Down In Mexico
by bobdabuilder0804
Summary: COMPLETE! Pre - Saeson 3. Jack undercover with the Salazars, and a few problems on the way. COMPLETE!
1. Default Chapter

This is a fic about Jack and Claudia's relationship. I mainly wrote it because 'Jordan Greyson' said he would enjoy it if I expanded my "Jack remembers" to story length, so I thought I'd give it a go! Let me know what you think, review! B.T.W. This is just the opening chapter, not the whole story!! 

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Claudia sat perched on the edge of Serigo's bouncy bed as she read him a bed story. She had ignored his protests and continued to read from where they left off. She didn't care how much of a man he was, he was still her little brother, and she would still read to him every night until he learned to do so himself. She turned the crisp page and carried the story on until she herd a clatter in the kitchen accompanied by the sound of laughter, all of which was coming from the three drunken men who had returned home from a long afternoon of drinking. At the sound of the deep voices Serigo jumped up, 

"Is Hector home Clou?" He asked with excitement tearing through his voice. 

"No honey, he's not home until Monday." It killed her as she saw the look of disappointment seep into his eyes as he flung his head back down into the flat pillow. 

"I miss him." He said, trying to hide the pain in his voice. 

"I know sweetie, and he misses you." 

"Do you miss him?" He questioned curiously as she had said nothing of his absence. 

She stood up and smiled, ruffled his dark hair and replied, "Good night sweetie." She turned and left the dark room, shutting the door behind her. 

She walked briskly into the light of the kitchen which seemed to glow with a orange tint, she guessed it was just the light reflecting off the paint on the walls. The room also smelt strongly of alcohol. She entered the kitchen to see Ramon seated at the long rectangular pine table, next to him was Jack. Lais was leaning against the counter with his arms folded. All three seemed to be laughing at some joke that had been told before she entered the room. She walked over to the table and when she got closer she stopped, hands on her hips and demanded to know what had happened this time, once seeing the blood. Lais seemed free of any, except for a few drops on his shirt. Ramon had some smeared on his face coming from his lip and nose, and Jacks shirt had plenty on it, although it wasn't all his. Lais, seeming to be the most sober of the three decided to explain what had happened. 

" Erm, well, what happened was, well lets see...." He trailed off trying to remember what had happened. 

Claudia sighed and said, "Come on, what happened this time?" 

Seeming to have found his words Lais continued. "Well, there was this blonde, tall, long legs, a real nice one, and Ramon decided to hit on her, and her boyfriend didn't seem to like that, so he kicked Ramon's ass-" he was cut off by Ramon, who wanted to tell it his way. 

"No, no, no, Lais you have got it all wrong," he paused to take a gulp from the bottle resting in his hand, " I never got my ass kicked, the stupid man got one shot off," he paused again, this time to glance at laugh at Jack, "until Jack here goes all crazy on him and beats the hell out of him," he paused again, and wiped at his eyes as there were now tears running from them, he had obviously found it very amusing. "And then we all had a bit of an ass kicking session on that stupid son of a bitch who thought he could hurt me, huh, yeah right, so then this guys pals comes back and tries to stop us, and so Jack goes at them too, but one of them has got a knife..... and so he got Jack with it....so we decided to leave it for now.... but hey, they messed with me and they will regret it, I bet that fool who tried it on with me is dead, aint that right Jack?" 

Jack muttered a, "probably", seeming uninterested in the conversation and more in the slash across his shoulder. 

After prying the beer bottle from his hand Claudia convinced Ramon to go to bed, and instructed Lais to do the same, once sure they were both asleep she re entered the kitchen. She looked at Jack and said, 

"Come on then, lets take a look at it?" 

He complied undoing the first few buttons of his cream shirt and pulling it over the shoulder. She tutted and scolded him, 

"I told you last time you saved Ramon's ass I was not fixing you up again Jack, and this really is the last time." 

They both laughed knowing she didn't mean it, it had been a private joke between them ever since the time he tripped over a stool and gave himself a concussion, he remembered how much she had tormented him over that, she was such a tease, he though to himself. And after that embarrassing _incident_ she had cleaned him up a few times after he had got involved in some fights, Ramon's drunken arrogance had got him into a few situations, but they always overcome them. 

She began to clean the wound and as she did so he leant his head back and closed his eyes, the drugs and alcohol taking a stronger effect on him now, it was more than just slurred words. He thought to himself how easy everything was here in Mexico. No fighting with Kim and no grief from Kate, he had finally closed_ that_ chapter of his life for good. He found it easier to be himself in Mexico, and he knew that his actions earlier tonight, had earned him the full trust of Ramon, had he not already obtained it, he would never be doubted or questioned again. Ramon was big on loyalty, and the two were like brothers, protecting him like he had would draw him and Ramon even closer, in the long run. He smiled to himself and opened his eyes, seeing Claudia watching his facial expressions intently. 

"What?" He asked. 

"Nothing Jack, I'm just wondering what your smiling about. You are a very strange man. Always quiet, serious, all business like when your with the boys, but I know that your not really like that." 

Jack began to laugh, "And what makes you think I'm not like that?" 

"Because I just caught you smiling to yourself. And people say that when someone is drunk they display what they are really like, deep down, and your drunk now, laughing and smiling, which proves it." 

"Really?" He asked interested in her assessment of him. 

"Yes." She placed a large white pad over the wound and taped it down. She looked up at him and smiled. "Be careful from now on Jack, I mean it." 

"Thanks." He leant his head back and closed his eyes, feeling tired. He couldn't be bothered to walk over the yard to his room, he figured he might as well sleep at the table. 

Claudia stood and watched as he began to fall asleep. She knew what she had felt all this time was wrong, she was engaged to Hector, but still, he was so good looking. She silently cursed herself for being so shallow, _looks weren't everything,_ but that wasn't all there was, her mind told her. He was funny (mostly when under the influence), kind, nice to talk to and a good listener. She had always been fond of him, but the day she knew she had real feelings for him was the day she found him on the floor out cold in a tangle with the stool, something they still laughed about. She had been so worried, and he was so embarrassed, she could never forget that day, even if she wanted to, which she didn't. She had always had these feelings, yet she couldn't understand the sudden urgency about them that ran through her tonight. 

Before she realised what she was doing she leant over and kissed him on the cheek, and got the shock of her life when his eyes opened, confusion spread across his face. She jumped back, surprised. 

"Erm, Jack, I though you was asleep...." 

"No..." was all Jack said as he watched her. On the outside he was the definition of calm, but inside his mind was racing, did she really feel the way he did? For months he had been so jealous, wondering just how that creep Hector had managed to get someone as attractive as Claudia. 

"Sorry, I just....." her voice trailed off and she looked over to him, saw the expression upon his face and knew it was all right. Jack reached out his hand and pulled her towards him, cupped her face in his hands and began to kiss her passionately. She could feel her heart beating fast as he kissed her, inside her mind was in turmoil, _oh my God, he is really kissing_ me_, perhaps he does like me after all?_ She pulled away taking hold of his hand and led him down the hallway, towards her room. 

He followed her down the hallway to her room. He was no longer confused, he was excited. He quickly assessed weather this was the right thing to do, or weather it was a mistake, she was engaged to Hector, would it jeprodise the operation? The alcohol made him shrug off his negative thoughts, and he decided to simply go with the flow, see where it lead him........ 

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	2. Chapter 2

Claudia lay on her back in the centre of the four poster, staring up at the cream ceiling of the spacious room. Next to her lay Jack, still asleep on his stomach, facing the other way. She continued to stare into space, thinking abut last night. She was engaged to Hector, was planning on marrying him, bus did she love him? No. She first got started with him because she despised living in poverty and wanted Sergio to live a better life. Over the past year she had half convinced herself that she was on, love with him, but the first time she saw Jack on the ranch her heart skipped a beat, she was attracted to him instantly. She had tried to push the thoughts of Jack out of her mind, he would not even consider anything with her, after all, she was engaged to his boss. But he did. What did this mean? Did he like her as much as she liked him? She hoped so. She rolled over and gently ran a light finger through his hair. She decided that, if he did feel the same for her, she would make something from it. It would be dangerous, yes, but it was worth it, wasn't it? Last night was, as she thought of this she began to giggle out loud. She knew Jack well enough and was pretty sure had felt something last night, other than the alcohol. She hoped he did anyway. 

Jack slowly began to stir once hearing the giggles that escaped from Claudia. He rolled over onto his back so he was facing her. 

"What's so funny?" he asked. His face was a picture, confusion mixed with tiredness. 

"I was just thinking about last night...." Her voice trailed off as she began to wonder if it really was just a drunk fling for him. 

"What about it..." He asked, beginning to feel the effect of just how much he had drank last night. 

"Well, you were in a bad state," she motioned to the padding on his shoulder as she said this, "I'm just wondering if you did something you will regret, you were out of it." She laughed to try and conceal the embarrassment and disappointment in her voice, thinking he may not be interested in her. 

Jack sat up against the large oak headboard, thinking about what to say. 

"Why would I regret what I did last night? If Hector finds out.... then I guess I will regret it.. a lot...." he broke off laughing... "but I can't think of any other reason for why I might regret it, unless you do?" 

"No!" She said whilst grabbing his hand. "Anyway, you had better get going, its six o'clock. Ramon and Lais normally pick you up at half past. If Ramon's gotta wait on you...." She broke off knowing he knew what she meant. 

"Yeah I guess." He got up and began to gather up his crumpled blood stained clothes off the floor and pull them on. 

"So were okay..." Claudia asked tentatively. 

"Yes, more than okay. I'll call by later tonight when I get back.... if that's okay?"

Claudia's face broke out into a smile, "That's okay. I'll see you later." She blew him a kiss and he headed off. 

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It took Jack 10 minutes to get across the ranch to his small apartment. Normally he would had jogged but his stomach was threatening to empty itself, and the heat made him want to pass out. He got in the shower and had it ice cold, trying to wake himself up. After this he pulled on some black trousers and herd the door open. He went through the hallway to find Lais looking for him, Ramon in tow. 

At first Jack was scared, Ramon was waiting on him. A week ago he had drove Ramon to go pick up Real, and he was still in bed. Ramon and Real were very close but Ramon still beat him up. Jack and Ramon were very close, but everything went out of the window if you were late. 

He quickly approached the two, trying to look confident, not show his fear: 

"Sorry Ramon, I'm a little behind this morning, Just been checking through the papers from last Thursday, you see. I couldn't do it last night with what went off and all." 

Ramon noticed the fear instantly, and liked the fact that people were scared of him, even his close friends. But as close as Jack and him were, he was late and they didn't have time to waste. He did help out last night though, so he decided he would leave it until they were finished for the day, he didn't want to slow him down when they were doing a deal. Plus, he wouldn't need him tomorrow, so everything would work out for the best if he waited until later. He figured he would just send a few boys round. 

"Do not worry Jack. Just get ready, we have a lot to do today." 

Jack nodded and headed back into the room to grab his shirt and the weapons he would need. His insides churned, not just from the alcohol, but the fact that he knew there was everything to worry about. Ramon was stupid if he thought he didn't realise he was going to wait and punish him later. Perhaps he knew about Claudia and is just waiting until after the deal, then kill him. He shrugged the thoughts off and focused on what was going on today, he would worry about Ramon and Claudia later. 

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More to follow, review! 


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a long day, thought Jack as he crossed the dry desert like mud heading towards his place. He still felt sick, but the days events had made him push the hangover out of his mind. The deal had gone down well, although it could have turned nasty. The buyer tried to con Ramon out of 10 grand worth of drugs. Ramon, not the quickest thinker almost fell for it, until Jack had intervened once doing the math. It had ended with Ramon coming back with an extra 10 grand in his pocket instead. Jack thought that small detail would slip his mind when he chose to punish him - every detail seemed to slip Ramon's mind when he gets angry. The sun had set hours ago, but the heats presence was still known, more so than the creeping darkness. He closed the door behind him flipping on a light. He turned around to pull the small bolt across the door. It wasn't very secure but there was no lock. Hector had filled him in on the fact that anyone who needed a lock needed to hide something. He didn't like not having a lock, but it would had been suspicious if he'd protested, so he made do with the one bolt. It was better than nothing. 

He walked across to the kitchen area, his feet echoing from the hollow wooden floorboards. He poured himself a glass of cold water and gulped it down hoping to cool himself down and get rid of his pounding head ache. He walked over to the couch and slumped down in it. Before long he was lost in his thoughts about Claudia. 

He smiled to himself thinking about last night and wondering if he really had a chance with her. She was smart, funny, beautiful... engaged. The problem wasn't that she was engaged, the problem was who she was engaged to. Hector Salazar, the younger brother of the leader of the drug cartel he was infiltrating. He dreaded to think about what would happen if he found out he had slept with Claudia, never mind forming a relationship with her behind his back. 

Undoubtedly he would be killed, but the method and duration of his death were a different thing entirely. Putting himself to one side for a moment, he wondered if a relationship was worth the entire operation. Three months of planning followed by eight months of infiltration. Had Jack blown all of that away because of a crush and some drunken antics? 

Putting the whole operation to one side now, he began to wonder just how would a relationship between them work? Hector was coming home on four days, what after that? They sneak around like teenagers, hoping he doesn't get suspicious? It would be extremely difficult, but he thought, it would be worth it. 

The debate in his mind only made his head hurt harder, so he decided that for the time being he would take things one step at a time and just go along with things. He pulled himself up from the couch and headed towards his bedroom, wanting to change before he saw Claudia. If anyone wanted to know what he was doing there he would claim he was looking for Lais and Ramon to go for another drink. He was pulling his shirt over his head when he herd a crash at the door. Instantly he remembered his mistake this morning, Ramon waiting on him. He headed towards the door hastily, expecting to see someone he wouldn't want to see. He approached the door to see it swinging on its hinges from the force of the blow which had snapped the bolt into two pieces, which were laying on the floor. 

He looked around confused, as there was nobody to see. Suddenly, the light went out. Jack spun around quickly to the light switch but was met with the butt of a gun to his nose, sending him to the floor on his back, clutching his nose in pain. Before he knew what was happening there was a man on each arm dragging him backwards through the door frame, then they threw him onto the dusty ground. Jack tried to get up and the two men again grabbed his arms, pulling him up into a standing position. Jack looked around at the men to see if it was anyone he knew. Through the cloudiness which covered his eyes he could make out ski masks on each of their faces. The third man approached him with a baseball bat in his hands. He swung the bat hitting Jack squarely in the stomach bending him over double. As Jack tried to catch his breath the masked man swung again, hitting him on the side of his head. The two men let go of his arms and he fell towards the floor, helped along the way by another hit, this time to the back of the head. 

Jack hit the floor unconscious. The three men seemed to have noticed this, but continued their beating as they proceeded to kick him around on the floor. Once they were certain Ramon would be satisfied they left him laid out on the ground, blood beginning to flow down his face from the gash above his eye. 

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Claudia sat back on the antique oak chair holding her head in her hands. She was disappointed, Jack hadn't called over to see her. Silently she began to cry, she shouldn't had gotten her hopes up, he was out of her league. She wondered to herself why had lied about his feelings earlier what she had given him the opportunity to get out of it. She silently wondered if he did like her, maybe he was still working? She headed through the hose in search of Ramon, he would know if Jack was working, and if Ramon was away, that would be where Jack was. Most of her hope escaped her when she entered the kitchen, once spotting Ramon pulling a beer out of the fridge. 

Knowing it there was a high probability Jack had stood her up she decided to be certain. 

"Ramon, I didn't realise you were home. I know it's late, but you must be hungry after working all day in this heat. Would you like me to make you something?" 

Ramon smiled at this offer, "Sure, as long as it's not putting you out." 

"Of course not its fine, perhaps I should see if Jack and the others want something too?" She tried not to let the desperation show in her voice. 

"Jack wont be coming over tonight, I doubt." As he said this a small chuckle escaped from him. 

"Why is he still working?" 

"No. But he was late this morning when we came to pick him up, so.. lets just say.... he's got a visitor or too." 

These words angered Claudia as much as they worried her. "Ramon! Don't you think this whole '_on time'_ escapade has gone too far, your power mad!" 

"No Claudia, I pay people to work for me, to be on time is part of their job. If I was not strict I wouldn't be as successful as I am."

" So what have you done to Jack? Have you hurt him?" 

The look on his face was enough of an answer for Claudia. 

"God damn it! Are you crazy!" 

"Why the sudden interest in Jack?" He asked, suddenly suspicious. 

"I am not worried about him, I am trying to understand why you hurt people who are your closest friends, look at what Jack did for you last night, did you forget about that Ramon?" 

Her words had finally got to Ramon, as he ordered, 

"Enough of this nonsense." 

"Fine. I'm going to check on Jack, make sure he is all right. Cook you own meal tonight!!" 

She stormed off, her mind in turmoil, worry for Jack, anger from Ramon's arrogance, and a glimmer of hope as she now knew Jack hadn't stood her up after all. 

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More to follow soon. Review!! 


	4. Chapter 4

Claudia stormed out of the kitchen and into her luxurious room. She was so mad at Ramon and so worried about Jack. She grabbed her brown blanket like shawl from the back of the oak chair she had earlier occupied and wrapped it round herself. With that she ran across the rooms golden carpet to the patio doors, grabbed the key from its spot and opened them. Without further hesitation she stepped through slamming the doors behind her. She began to walk across the huge yard at a steady pace, she would had ran but the darkness made it hard to do so, so she decided to power walk instead. With each new step she took she thought about Jack and herself, and the possibility of a relationship. Maybe they could flee the Salazars together and make a fresh start? Deep down she knew they couldn't do that as eventually they would be found and killed. 

As she neared Jacks small ranch like place she could see that the door was open, and she could just make out a figure of something like that on the ground a few feet away from the door. As she approached she saw it was Jack and she took off running towards him, fearing the worse. She reached him and flew down to her knees, silently praying Ramon hadn't been mad, or late enough to kill him. She grabbed his arms and moved him onto his back, then checked his pulse for a beat. 

Claudia felt what could only be described as relief when she realised he was merely unconscious, not dead at all. 

"Jack, Jack, can you hear me?" She knew it was pretty pointless but tried anyway. 

She got up and ran into the house straight to the kitchen where she filled a basin with water and grabbed a cloth from the side. She slowly walked back to Jack, carefully trying to keep the water in the basin and spill none at all. She arrived back at Jack's side and placed the water down. She dipped the cloth into the cold water and rang it out before carefully wiping the blood away from his neck. The cut itself was above his eye, hidden beneath the blood, but she noticed it was not longer bleeding. She silently worked away at getting the blood off and eventually the gash could be seen. It was not very long but seemed deep and it had pulled some of the skin upwards, making it look very painful. She decided to wait until he was awake before she dressed it so she rolled him back onto his stomach to examine the other cut that had sent blood down the back of his head and covered his hair. She could tell this one was very deep and looked very painful, and judging by the new colour of his red hair she decided that only a shower would get it all out so she left it. Silently she cursed Ramon for doing this, he really was an ass. She rolled him back to his previous position and then picked the basin up in both hands, tipping the water out onto Jack's face. She hoped he wouldn't be mad at her. 

Jack felt the cold water drench him and woke with a start, panic, confusion and pain all kicked in at the same time as he struggled to understand what was happening. Claudia could see all of this and quickly tried to calm him. Grabbing his arm she said, 

"Shhhh, sshhhh Jack its me, its Claudia, everything's okay, calm down....." 

Jack looked up at her and closed his eyes, his head was pounding so hard he thought it may explode. He remembered what had happened and guessed he must have been knocked out somewhere throughout the process. He opened his eyes and looked up at her watching him with a worried expression. He slowly smiled at her with the realisation what she must care for him. 

"Come on, lets get you inside and cleaned up." She said, relieved he was okay, or at least, seemed it. 

Jack closed his eyes once more, opening them back up and just staring up at her. He didn't know what to say, he couldn't find the words to describe how he felt about her, the thoughts running through his head were ineffable. Instead he gave her the biggest grin, and replied, 

"Sure." 

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Sorry its so short, more to come, review! 


	5. Chapter 5

Claudia managed, with some struggle, to get Jack up onto his feet. He seemed a little disorientated and a feeling of dizziness kicked in as he headed towards the door slowly, as Claudia lightly held a protective hand to his shoulder, just incase he stumbled or fell. Together they climbed the few cement steps and entered the darkness of his 'home' through the open door. Jack went to turn the light on, but when he moved his left arm up towards the switch he felt considerable pain shoot up and down throughout his wrist. Not understanding what the problem was he tried to make a fist. As he tensed his arm he cried out at the pain he felt, causing Claudia to rush over to him, concern written across her face. 

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" She sounded like a concerned mother, and Jack noticed this, feeling embarrassed, so he tried to brush it off. 

"Uh, its nothing... I'm fine." 

The expression on her face told Jack she knew exactly what was happening and he hadn't pulled one over her. "Give it here," she instructed, holding her hand out towards him. Jack grudgingly placed his wrist softly in her outstretched hand. He silently noticed the red polish spread over her nails, and how small and delicate her hands were compared to his. He'd never noticed the smaller details like this about her, he thought to himself, but he liked discovering them. 

"Okay, I want you to tell me if anything hurts." Again, she spoke like a mother would to a child, making Jack feel rather stupid and mad at himself for showing his pain. 

She softly began to rub around his wrist, barely making contact with it, and although Jack said nothing, she could see the pained expression on his face, that he was desperately trying to hide from her. She tutted and released its grip, "It's broken." 

"It's nothing." He repeated, whilst using his other hand to turn the light on, then headed through the hallway to the lounge, where he threw himself onto the couch, resting his hurting head on the large green cushions, not caring about the blood that was in the process of staining them. 

Claudia was growing impatient. Lack of patience was a personality trait they shared. "It's not nothing Jack, you need to go to the hospital." 

When hearing this remark he scoffed. The thought of him laughing at her for trying to help him made her angry, her voice conveyed this. "What Jack, what the hell is so funny? You are not with Hector and Ramon now, you can be yourself, you don't have to act like you are solid around me. Why don't you just admit that you need to go to the hospital?! Is that too hard for you Jack, or are you just an ungrateful bas***d, who wont accept the fact that you need help?" 

The words hit Jack hard, but made him equally angry as she was, replying, "Maybe I don't need your help. Maybe you are over reacting, just because my arm is sore! I think that's a little over the top and maybe you should mind your own business!" 

"No Jack, I don't think I am over reacting, and its not just your arm, you have two holes in your head, that are leaking blood all over your sofa you idiot!" 

Calming himself down, Jack realised he was being harsh on her, she was only trying to help. He looked down at the floor and said quietly, "Look, if it will make you happy I will go. But just remember, the closest hospital is over an hour away, and its now 11.30." 

Claudia placed her hands on her hips, getting ready to counter every problem he came up with, she knew him well enough to know he would not give in that easily. "That's okay, by the time we get there there will be no waiting que as the place will be empty." 

Jack replied, "Fine. But do we have a ride?" 

The fact that neither of them owned a vehicle had slipped her mind, but she quickly solved the problem. "We will take one of Ramon's," she said simply, pausing as she saw the look of surprise and fear in this suggestion. She continued on, "Don't worry, he was drinking in the house so he can't go anywhere in it anyway, and we will return it before he notices." 

"How do we get the keys?" 

"Leave it to me Jack." 

"Okay, but when he sees me he is going to realise I have been to the hospital, how do we explain leaving this place without telling him, and what if he asks how we got there?"

"You worry too much Jack. We will say we didn't bother telling him because we thought he wouldn't want to be disturbed over such trivial things. If he wants to know how we got there... just say Lais gave us a ride. See, its simple!" She added playfully, giving him a innocent yet cheeky grin. 

The pain in his head increasing, Jack deduced that maybe it would be better if he did see a doctor. If he did go he could also get his shoulder looked at from the other night. And Ramon was pretty simple, he could talk his way out of the situation later if needs be. He gave Claudia the smallest of nods, making her lean over and kiss him softly on the cheek. 

"I'm glad you are seeing sense finally!" She whispered to him. 

With that she moved away, embarrassed at her action, but smiling slightly to herself realising just how much she was taken with him. Trying to get rid of the butterflies in her stomach, she gave him a business like nod, which caused him to let out a small chuckle as he realised what she was doing. She turned to leave but before she did she informed him, 

" I'm going to go get the car. You wait here, oh, and get a towel or something to stop the blood, don't want to ruin Ramon's upholstery do we?" 

After she left Jack began to laugh to himself, she really was something, and for some reason, she liked him, of all people! 

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	6. Chapter 6

Jack stood leaning against the old wall, staring out of the window looking for any sign of Claudia. He had earlier changed his shirt, the blood had completely ruined his other one, so he had grabbed an old white long sleeved top and shrugged it on, then replacing the cloth to the back of his head as an attempt to stop the blood from ruining another piece of clothing. He had been waiting over twenty minutes now, and was beginning to get anxious, different possibilities and scenarios of her being caught running through his mind, causing him to worry further. The stress caused him to clamp down harder on the cloth, his anger at the thought of Ramon catching her getting the better of him. His arm was now aching from being held up to his head, but it wasn't like he could change hands, was it? 

He continued to wait and worry. He clearly cared for Claudia and he wondered what would happen if Hector happened to find out she had cheated on him. She would probably be killed, he thought, as would he. He began to wonder if it would be possible to take her back with him, after the operation. It would be tough, but he couldn't stand the thought of leaving her here with Hector, let alone never seeing her again, it would tear him up. He realised that if he couldn't leave with Claudia, he probably wouldn't leave at all. That thought scared him, not the fact that he would be with the Salazar's for quite some time, but because he felt so strongly for someone so quick, and was willing to give up everything for her, even Kim? 

Pulling him back to reality form his thoughts was the crisp beep of a car, Claudia sat in the driver seat. Feeling himself relax he headed towards her and climbed into the passenger seat, slammed the door, and they sped off, leaving behind them a trail up dust and exhaust fumes from the cars engine. 

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They had spent over an hour in the small waiting room in the placed that called itself a hospital. Jack had then spent a further hour and half inside a small room with a nurse. He looked around the room and noticed, not for the first time, the differences between Mexico and America. Mexico was clearly in need of money and order, the hospital said it all. Christ sake, the walls weren't even white! He just hoped the instruments were clean and the staff were qualified, but deep down he doubted it. A young brunette nurse had cleaned the gashes to his head, and then taken a while stitching them up before applying small strips of white medical tape to hold them in place. Jack had no doubt that they were the most painful stitches he had ever encountered, which added to his guess that the nurse was not qualified at all. 

After they had closed the cuts on his head, he had been led to an even smaller room where a 'doctor' announced that his wrist was broken in 3 places, from studying the x-rays taken once he had arrived, it was clear he would need a cast for a few months at least. From here he was led to yet another room where the man whom called himself a 'doctor' and a different 'nurse' had applied a white, half cast, which went from his hand to just before the elbow joint. After a few minutes of studying it he decided it wouldn't be too much of a problem, and at least it was stopping the pain he felt when accidentally moving it. He just wondered how he would explain coming here without informing Ramon, who would immediately see the cast. He hoped it wouldn't be a problem, but knew that it would, eventually. 

Once everything had been fixed and paid for, it was almost four in the morning. Jack spotted Claudia in the same seat as before in the waiting room, although her head was resting against the yellow wall and she was in a deep sleep - he didn't blame her. He approached her slowly and decided not to wake her. He grabbed her small brown bag from her lap and fished the keys from it, before pulling Claudia up into his chest from the chair, one arm wrapped around her shoulders, the other under her legs. He walked slowly over to the car and managed, with some struggle, to unlock and open the door, then placed her softly on the back seat. She didn't stir, she must had been exhausted, thought Jack, feeling guilty for making her so tired. He climbed into the front and began to drive back to the ranch belonging to the Salazar's. 


	7. Chapter 7

The drive home was uneventful. Jack pushed the car up to 80 mph, but the dark roads dissuaded him from going any faster. The roads were long stretches of nothingness, completely deserted of any other vehicles. As he drove he thought. He tried to push the thoughts of Claudia out of his mind, and let the ones of Kate creep back in - despite his daily mantra that they were really over and he really couldn't care for her, he still found himself thinking of her every now and then. He wondered where she was now, what she was doing, was she thinking of him? At this thought he began to laugh out loud. Of course she wouldn't be thinking of him. In reality, all he had done to her was hurt and fail her, like most other people he cared about. This, added on to the fact that he had left one day over 8 months ago and never made any attempt to contact her at all would more than likely mean she wasn't thinking of him, and hadn't for some time. He knew she was taken with him, as much as he was with her; and even though it hurt to admit it, deep down he hoped she had moved on. He had, in his own way. 

Silently, his conscience began to question the possibility that Claudia was just somebody there to fill the void Kate had left. Was he really just using her for his own selfish needs? Although he could never be sure, he knew that couldn't be the case. When ever he was in Claudia's presence the whole world seemed to melt away to leave just the two of them there. Thinking of her gave him butterflies in his stomach, and he promised himself, despite the mission, he wasn't going to add Claudia to the long list of failures. This was his second chance, and he was going to redeem himself. 

He eased off the accelerator and began to slow down as he saw the turn to the Salazars. He had been so lost in his thoughts he had almost missed the turn. He pulled round the bend and headed through the wooden posts, which were their to mark their land. Thirty seconds later they were outside Jacks living area. He pulled to a stop and debated what to do with the car. As though he were debating out loud Claudia slowly began to stir. 

"Hey, sorry if I woke you. You fell asleep in the waiting room ... so I thought you'd prefer to sleep through the journey home..... so I didn't bother to wake you." Jack explained, seeing the confused look on her face. 

She smiled and stretched her arms as she pulled her fragile frame through the door. "Thanks. How are you feeling, what did they say?" She motioned to his arm as she asked this, the worried features creeping back onto her tired face. 

"Oh, everything is fine." 

Again she smiled, "I'm sure it is far from fine." She broke off and an uncomfortable silence formed between the two. Jack was the first to brake it: 

"So... do you want to go for a walk, I'm sure it will be a while before you sleep after that long nap in the car." 

Sure, lets go through the shrubbery to the forest, theirs a spot there, you can see the stars, its, its beautiful." 

They set of walking at a slow pace, both just wanting to be with each other. Jack held his uninjured left arm around her shoulder pulling her closer to him. "The stars?" 

"Yes. What is wrong with watching the stars..." She asked in a mocking tone. 

"Nothing." Replied Jack defensively. "Just, Iv never really spent time looking at the stars. Never saw the point.... there so far away.... so what's the point..... I don't know..." He broke off laughing and the two continued to walk. 

Soon enough they reached the shrubbery and they began to wander through the trees, Jack following Claudias lead, he could tell she knew the path well. Once they reached the area she circled round on her heels. 

"Isn't it beautiful?" She asked in awe. 

"Sure." He said. He had to admit, it was an incredible sight. The trees were thick but there was a open space, no more than 10 foot in all, but it was as though the lingering branches of the trees had been pushed open, creating a large path leading directly to the sky. 

Claudia sat down on the dry ground and Jack followed. They laid down, Jack was captivated with Claudia, who was captivated with the stars. He stared at her longingly, as she did up to the sky. 

"Are you religious Jack?" She asked, her voice dreamlike. 

"No. Not really. I used to go to church as a kid, but that's about it." 

"Have you ever lost anyone?" She asked, clearly interested in his responses. 

Jack wasn't sure what she was getting at, but the question struck him hard. He briefly closed his eyes, and muttered a, "Yes." It was barely a whisper. 

"Well, so have I. Which is why I look to the stars. That's where my mother is, made up of hundreds of thousands of tiny diamonds, in the sky. Sometimes I see her face up their, and if I can't, it doesn't matter. All I need is a single star and I know she is their, safe, watching down on me and Sergio." 

Jack didn't really know what to say, he was surprised to hear her talk so openly about something so private to her. Although he thought it was sweet, he just couldn't believe it himself. 

"So, what happens when there are no stars at night?" He questioned. 

Claudia began to laugh as he was testing her theory. "Well, those nights are signs. When the sky is empty it is a blanket of coldness, emptiness. When the stars are there, it is radiated with beauty." 

"Oh." Was all Jack could say, coming to terms with the way she thought of death. 

She laughed again and rolled onto her side so she was facing him closely. He stared at her, mesmerised by her beauty. Claudia spoke, ruining the moment, "Hector is back day after tomorrow." 

Jack didn't respond, so Claudia spoke for him. "I don't want that to change anything between us." 

Jack smiled at this but still said nothing, his words were hard to find when he was in her presence. 

  
"So... maybe we should ....make up for time we wont have then ....now...." She looked at him embarrassed at what she was saying, but inside she didn't care. She wanted him to know what page she was on. That was all Jack needed to hear her say, as he pulled her into a long kiss. After that they began to make love passionately, the only witnesses of this were the stars she thought about so intently. 

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Review! More to come..... 


	8. Chapter 8

The hot sun bore down through the gap in the trees, and eventually woke the two sleeping figures. Jack opened his eyes but quickly shielded them with his white cast arm, the sun too bright for his fragile eyes. He waited until his eyes adjusted and sat up stretching. He looked over to his left to see Claudia laid on her back watching him, ignoring the suns fierce glare. 

"How are you feeling?" She asked, always worrying about him. 

"Fine," he lied. 

"Don't lie to me Jack I know when you are telling the truth or not." She said, humour dripping from her voice. 

"Really. And how do you know when I'm lying?" He asked, sarcasm creeping into his voice to try and join her good mood. 

"You always take a millisecond to think before you respond, like, the tiniest of hesitations, then look to the ground before answering. Normally you just fire out and answer." She said laughing. 

"Oh." Said Jack, wondering if this was true. 

"So, how are you, really feeling?" She watched him carefully, and could see him watching himself to see if he did the things she claimed he did, before he replied. 

"Ill be fine. Banging headache, but that is probably from something else that happened last night!" He broke off laughing and leant in to kiss her softly on the cheek. This action made her blush, which Jack noticed immediately, and backed away worried he'd said something to upset her. 

  
"Sorry." He looked like a scolded schoolboy. 

"Jack, you don't have to tip toe around me 24/7! Be yourself!" She had noticed earlier how he was careful not to displease her, but she didn't like it. 

Once hearing that Jack cracked out laughing, he could never be himself around her, or anyone else while he was down in Mexico. Although, in Mexico he wasn't far from his real demeanour, he thought grimly. 

Claudia noticed something shift inside him, and pulled herself up from the ground, as did Jack. They began to dust the grainy sand from their clothes, until an uncomfortable silence formed between the two. Again, Jack broke it, 

"Will anyone notice you weren't home last night?" 

"You mean Ramon?" 

"I mean anyone?" He replied, a little angrier than he intended. 

"I'll say I stopped over to make sure you were okay." She asked, getting annoyed with his changing moods. 

"Okay. I'm gonna go take a shower, take Ramons car back, tell him where we went. Hope he doesn't get too pissed....." His voice trailed off. Claudia came over to him and softly grabbed his hand. 

"Be careful." She said, then gave him a kiss on the cheek before heading off back though the woods towards their complex. Jack stood motionless and watched her walk away, his insides churning once again. 

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One word..... review! 


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry it took so long... not been allowed to upload stuff for a bit... :(

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Jack watched as Claudia left until she was out of sight completely. He then turned and set off back through the woods in the opposite direction, towards his home. After 10 minutes he was almost their and was covered in sweat from the hot sun that shone down on him. He passed the borrowed car and secretly dreaded its return, although he tried to convince himself it would be fine, somehow he knew it wouldn't. 

He entered through the door that was still open from last night and left it like it was, he didn't have the energy to fix it just now, he'd do it later. He walked through to the bedroom and flopped down onto the single, lumpy mattress, briefly closing his eyes to gather his thoughts. Before he knew it he was asleep, his exhaustion worse than he had realised. 

While he slept he dreamt of Claudia, and then Kate. After a while the two mingled together to create a disturbingly ugly person. Kate's pale skin and piercing blue eyes contrasted with Claudia's dark skin and plump lips made this new person look like a gorilla. Jack watched as this mingled person approached him as he slowly backed away from this monstrous woman. Even subconsciously he realised what was happening, he couldn't have them both, only one. As soon as he thought of this, much to his surprise and pleasure the two separated, leaving Claudia and Kate back to normal. He realised here that no matter what he told himself, he still did have feelings for Kate. He decided to talk to Kate, but as he tried to do so, the two transformed again, their was no longer Kate, or Claudia, but Nina. 

Confusion, fear and anger kicked in all at once as he backed again once again, until he bumped into someone. Turning around he saw it was Hector holding a gun on him. Jack now had nowhere to go and didn't know what to do. 

"_Claudia is mine, you thief." _Hector spat. Jack was too stunned to respond, thoughts running frantically around his head, _how does Hector know? _He no longer had to worry about Hector, as Ramon appeared at his side out of nowhere. 

_"Got us a thief here have we? My my Jack, first my car, then my brothers fiancee." _He spoke as he headed towards Jack, gun pointed in his direction. 

_"Ramon.. Hector... is this some kind of joke?" _He laughed as he spoke, trying to ease the tension and hide his fear. 

_"No Jack. No joke." _With that he fired four times, each shot hitting him squarely in the chest, leaving holes in his body as the dark red substance known as blood began to pour from him. 

Jack jolted awake and quickly looked down to his chest, checking it was in fact a dream, not some twisted reality. Taking a moment to compose himself he cursed himself for falling asleep unintentionally. He pulled himself up from the bed and headed towards the bathroom, where he had a quick, cold shower, to wake him up. Once finished Jack turned the shower off and padded across the dark room, wearing only a towel. He dried off and quickly dressed in some black trousers and a simple white T-shirt. He noticed that, despite all his efforts, he had got the pot wet in the process of showering. He sighed as the itching sensation grew worse and worse from inside the cast. He ignored this as he pulled on his shoes and grabbed the car keys. Before he left he glanced in the mirror and noticed that his left eye was slightly purple and the stitches on the side of his head had turned a deep red colour from the scab that was forming. He tried, but couldn't see the gash on the back of his head, so he ignored it and headed towards Ramon's car. 

He set off driving slowly, so he could plan what to say to Ramon. He thought it would be better to take a direct approach and just hope for the best. As he drove thoughts about his earlier dream crept into his mind so he tried to push them away. He thought that maybe, once finished with Ramon he'd go see Claudia, after all, Hector would be home tomorrow, they didn't have much time left together, and he didn't know what would happen once Hector was home. 

It only took a few minutes to get to the house as he slowed the car to a stop besides the barn that contained all of the vehicles. As he got out he noticed a Range Rover that didn't belong to anyone living on the site. He began to get suspicious, wondering who had come here, and for what purpose. And most importantly, had they put Ramon in a foul mood by coming to cause trouble? 

Jack walked over to the house and entered through the door leading to the posh hallway of the mansion. He walked through here and entered the exquisitely decorated entrance hall. He passed through here and went through the doors leading to the spacious cellar, where the business takes place. It was quite a contrast, comparing the cellar to the rest of the grand house. It was cold, damp and dull, despite the outside heat, only containing of a central sitting area, with 3 rooms leading off to different places, one of them being Ramon's office. 

He reached the bottom of the staircase when he saw the Ramon's office door open, and Hector walked out. Jack felt his body tense immediately, he struggled to appear relaxed, like he usually was around Hector, but allowed him to register surprise on his face. 

"Home early?" He asked, innocently. 

"Yes, a surprise for Claudia." He replied smiling. He headed over to where Jack stood rooted on the spot, and pulled him into an embrace. He looked Jack up and down with a concerned look drew across his face. 

"What happened to you Jack, stitched on your face, and a busted arm?" 

Jack tried to brush off his concern, but then realised that the whole car thing would be okay seen as Hector was here, as he would vouch for Jack, his good, good friend, and prevent Ramon from hurting him further. 

"Oh its nothing, I'm fine. Was late the other day so Ramon had some people come see me." He shrugged as he explained what happened. 

"He did this?" Hector asked angrily. Jack saw his opportunity and decided to turn it into his advantage. 

"Well this is the least of my concerns." 

"What do you mean?" Enquired Hector. 

"Well I borrowed a car from Ramon last night without telling him, and I doubt he will be pleased when I return the keys." 

Hector thought for a moment then responded, "Give me the keys, I'll fix it for you, don't worry about it, relax." He patted Jack on the back as he said this, he had obviously missed Jack while he was away. 

"Thanks" Said Jack, handing him the keys. 

"Tell him what?" Asked Ramon, standing in the doorway whilst wiping some blood from his hand onto his trousers. Hector came forward and handed his brother the keys. 

"Jack borrowed a car yesterday to go to the hospital." He held out the keys fearlessly. 

Ramon ignored his younger brothers words, his mind seemingly somewhere else. He eyed Jack arm and asked; 

"I did that to you?" 

"Yeah." Jack replied evenly. 

"Will this effect your work?" 

"I doubt it." 

"Good. Tell you what. Iv got a test for you, target practise, with your broken arm. You do okay and I'll forget about all of this." Jack wondered if this was a trick. He looked to Hector who nodded to him. 

"Sure." 

"Good, come with me." Ramon instructed. 

Jack followed him through to his office where a man sat in a chair with a broken nose. A trickle of blood ran from it down his chin. Lais was sat opposite him, pointing a gun at him. 

"Get up." Ramon instructed. Immediately the man complied. 

Jack noticed he had tears in his eyes, he was scared out of his mind. Ramon walked over to the back exit and opened the door, it revealed miles of barren land the Salazars had not yet built on. It reminded Jack of the desert. The man looked confused as did Lais, but Jack was pretty sure of what was going to happen. 

Ramon turned to Jack and asked, "Are you armed?" 

"No." He replied. 

"Lais give him your gun." Lais complied and Jack took the piece from him, cocking it and taking off the safety, he knew what he would have to do. 

"So this is what's going to happen, Seth. In a few minutes I will allow you to go free. Just go out of that door and run like your life depends on it. Because it does." He broke off to laugh at this remark. "Jack, I need proof that you can still aim and shoot with that cast. You got one shot, to kill Seth here. 

You know what will happen if you miss." Jack nodded, he knew. 

He then turned all of his attention to Seth; "He misses and you live. He hits, and well, you die. So I'd advise you to get the hell out of here." 

With that Seth began running as fast as his legs would carry him. Jack moved over to the doorway, Ramon and Lais at either side of him. He steadied his breathing down to a steady rhythm and watched as the figure moved further away. He raised his cast arm clutching the gun tightly, resting atop this other arm for support. He held his breath in, lined up his target, pulled the trigger. 

The next few seconds seemed like the longest of Jack's life, until the figure fell to the floor, apparently dead. Jack put the gun down and smiled with relief. 

"Good work Jack." Congratulated Ramon. 

"Sure. Was that his drive, the Range Rover by the barn?" 

"Yes it was..... and incase you fancy taking another road trip... here." He laughed as he tossed Jack what looked like the keys to the dead mans ride. 

"Thanks." 

"Don't worry about it Jack, Ill have Dante get some fake plates for it." 

"Great." Jack replied, thinking about how much easier it would be to contact CTU, he could just drive somewhere and find a phone. 

"Well, your not working today so go home and rest. Take it easy." 

"Sure." Jack replied, again whilst heading towards the door, happy that he and Ramon were back to normal again. As he left the room he saw Hector waiting for him. 

"Everything okay?" He asked. 

"Yeah, fine. You wanna go get a drink?" 

"Can't, I'm taking Claudia out for dinner later, don't want to be drunk and ruin it, want it to be a nice surprise for her." 

"Oh, right." He paused a moment, before replying, "Well I'm gonna get some more sleep. Do me a favour, tell Claudia thanks, for last night, she fixed me up some." He explained. 

"Ill tell her." Replied Hector. 

Jack began walking back to his home smiling to himself, he had straightened everything out, and Claudia would now know that Jack knew Hector was home, so she wouldn't worry. Also, it proved his theory that Hector, the fool, trusted Jack with his fiancee.

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Review! Hope to write more soon..... I'll try to at least!


	10. Chapter 10

Jack walked back over the desert like land, back to his home. He jingled his keys in his pockets to occupy himself. He had left his new ride by the barn, he'd let Dante sort it out for him before he decided to take it anywhere. He finally got home and he went straight inside and headed to the small and dark kitchen. He poured a cool glass of water to swallow down the doctors pills, his head was beginning to ache and he wanted to kill it off before it really got started. He paced around for a few minutes trying to gather his thoughts, and realised he was just bored. To occupy himself he decided to get rid of the broken bolt attached to the door, preventing it from closing fully. He rummaged around in the junk draw and grabbed a screwdriver. He patiently unscrewed all six screws and pulled the metal from the wood of the door, he then closed it, happy with himself for not being as lazy as he usually was, leaving things to fix themselves. 

After this he was fully at a loss of what to do, so he slumped down in front of the couch and began flipping through different stations. Nothing caught his attention as being interesting, and as he was about to switch it off his phone rang. He answered without hesitating, "Hello?" 

"Jack, its Ramon, fancy going for a drink?" 

"Um, sure." 

"Great," he said, "I'll pick you up in 15 minutes and well go into town, pull a few ladies.." He broke off chuckling to himself. 

"Sure." He said, before hanging up. He pulled himself up and headed to the room to change into something nicer, after all, whenever he went out with Ramon he ended up with some woman, and so he had to look presentable!

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Claudia combed the brush through her hair, thinking about tomorrow, Hectors return. She dreaded it and wanted it at the same time. As if on que, Hector walked through her door that very moment. 

"Hector!" She exclaimed, excitement, shock, and surprise evident in her voice. She ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck as he pulled her into a close kiss. 

"Oh I missed you." He said between kisses. 

"Why are you home early?" She asked, still excited by his early return. 

"I couldn't bear to be away another minute from you." He said. "And to celebrate my return, I made reservations for tonight." He paused to watch Claudia's smile as he said this, he knew how much it meant to her when he made the effort. 

"Where are we going?" She asked. 

"Mintello's." 

"That's wonderful, thank you sweetheart." 

They hugged for a few minutes, before Hector broke away to look around the room. "Where's Sergio?" 

"Oh, he's in his room. He has been pining for you every night." 

"Iv missed the little fellow, I'm going to go see him, Iv bought him something he's going to love." He said smiling. "Oh, I saw Jack earlier, he wanted me to thank you for him, for helping him last night, after what Ramon did." He explained. 

"Oh... he did?" She asked, taken off guard by his mention of Jack. She tried to act normal and remain calm. 

"Yeah, he seemed fine. Anyway, I'm off to see Sergio, our reservation is at 8." 

With that he turned and left the room. Claudia sat down on the edge of the bed, chewing on her nails, she had just realised what had happened. She was genuinely happy by Hectors return. What did this mean? She knew she had feelings for Jack, she just didn't know her feelings for Hector was as strong. She tried to convince herself that she had put on a great act to fool Hector, but deep down she admitted that there was no acting, she just displayed her true emotions. Silently she sighed, she would see how the next few days went, but she knew that no matter what happened, or how she felt, she could never tell anyone about them, or they would both be killed.


	11. Chapter 11

Jack finished buttoning up his black short sleeved shirt and then ran his fingers through his hair. He checked himself over in the small mirror on the door of his bathroom cabinet and noticed that the marks on his face had already began to fade away, although they were still noticeable. He herd the beep of Ramons cars horn, and headed out, stopping to grab his wallet on the way. In the car Ramon had the radio on, but it wasn't playing anything Jack could identify. He decided it was Latin music, and it sounded too cheesy for Jack to pay any more of his attention to it. 

"You okay?" Asked Ramon, taking his eyes off the empty roads to glance at him occasionally. Jack didn't like it when he took his attention from the roads, they were easily doing over a hundred, although there was nothing for them to hit in the deserted area, it still made him nervous. 

"Yeah... fine." He leant his head back against the leather back rest of the seat and sighed, the pill hadn't yet managed to get rid of his aching headache, which was progressing somehow. 

"About the other day Jack...." He broke off, choosing his words carefully; he was going to apologise, which was something he didn't do often, if never. "I'm sorry about sending those guys to see you... it was a little harsh.... Claudia gave me a good scolding..." He broke off to chuckle, and hide his embarrassment of apologising to somebody. "You are like a brother to both me and Hector, and I sure as hell wouldn't do it to Hector, so... unless you seriously f up it wont happen again." He laughed again to shrug it off. 

"Forget about it." Jack responded, wondering what this meant. It was either a trap or a growth in their trust; probably the latter. He silently noted the 'unless you screw up' part of his apology, would sleeping with his brothers fiancee fall into this, he presumed it did, and wondered just what consequences he would face before his death. Beginning to feel uncomfortable thinking of all the possibilities he tried to change the subject and get it out of his mind. "Where we starting?" He hoped his voice conveyed the image he was interested, when really he couldn't care where they went, as long as it had a bar he was fine. 

"Ah... I thought we could start of at Marti, then wherever our feet take us." 

After this conversation ran dry, luckily, there was not much further to go. The next ten minutes passed and Ramon was parking his car outside the town hall, double checking it was locked before they headed off into the closest bar. 

Hours later Jack was sat slouched over the bar sat on a high stool. He had been downing doubles all night, as had Ramon. Ramon was paying the bartender who had just served him with two more double shots, one which he gave to Jack. Jack took it and gulped it straight down without hesitation. He watched as Ramon did the same then the two got up to leave and find another place, where they often finished the night off at. 

Stumbling down the pavement Jack was holding one hand against the wall to steady himself, Ramon was tittering back and forth on each step he took. They entered the bar, which was full of females, who instantly recognised both men. Three women came over and had their hands on Ramon before they made it to the bar. Jack grinned at him before leaving him and going to the bar alone. Once their he ordered himself a shot, but before he could drink it Crystal approached him, smiling like she always did, making him go weak at the knees. 

"Hey." She smiled.   
  
"Uh.. hi." Jack said, his words long and slurred from the alcohol. 

"Didn't think I'd see you again, you and Ramon haven't frequented this place in a while." 

"Yeah." Was all he said, as he noticed her hand had already snaked its way up his arm. 

"Well..." She started suggestively. 

"Well...." Jack repeated, having a hard time following. 

"Do you want me to show you my room?" She said in a little girl tone laughing. 

Jack now realised what she meant. "Oh, uh... yeah I do." 

He stood up and the two headed over to the wooden staircase situated at the corner of the room. Before they headed up they stopped to kiss, then they climbed up together. They entered the room and before Jack had managed to lock the door Crystal was already undoing the buttons on his shirt. 

There were no more thoughts of Claudia in his mind now. 

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Claudia sat at the posh table; facing Hector, the supposed love of her life, her future. Secretly he was just a stepping stone, helping her on her way, but he would never know. He had taken her out to a posh diner and now, hours later they were talking and looking deeply into each others eyes. 

"You okay Clou?" Hector asked sensitively. 

"Yeah, I'm still surprised your home early.... I am glad you are here." She flashed him a fake smile, trying to make herself believe that what she was saying was true, but deep down she knew it was all a lie, she was in love with Jack. 

"I'm glad I'm home too, I missed you so much." He smiled lovingly at her again, and Claudia had to look away; overwhelmed with feelings of guilt now. She was simply using him for her benefits - was that right? She didn't think so. 

"Is there something on your mind?" He asked her again, looking worried. 

"Um.. no, nothing." She lied, there was something on her mind. Something very big. 

Jack. 

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I finally got some more ideas on this fic.. wahey!!!! 

Please review! Cheers :) 


	12. Chapter 12

Jack woke slowly, his head pounding, and the room still spinning from the alcohol that was still in his system. He blinked his eyes a few times and looked around, seeing he was in Crystals bed again. It was a king size bed with a pine headboard, nothing special. He noticed she wasn't there. He glanced at his wrist watch and saw it was past 11, she was probably working. He thought of last night and smiled to himself, he had enjoyed himself, and guessed she certainly had too. 

He pulled himself into a sitting position and leant his bare back against the wooden headboard, cooling his back. He looked around the room and tried to spot his clothes. His shirt was by the door, his boxers were near the dresser, his shoes, he could just make out near the wardrobe. He smiled again and ran a hand across the back of his neck, waking himself up. He climbed from the bed and wandered round the room, pulling on his clothes as he found them. He then sauntered along to the bathroom and splashed water over his face and through his hair, trying to pat down the stray hairs that were stuck out of place from sleeping. 

Once satisfied he looked merely presentable he opened the door and headed towards the stairs, he knew the layout off by heart after all the times he had spent here. Climbing down the staircase he saw the bar was quiet empty, just a few people in eating breakfast. He walked over to the bar and sat on one of the high stools that decorated it. Looking round once more he saw the back of Ramon's head in the corned booth. He got up and went over, slumping down opposite him onto the padded backrest. He looked as hung over as Jack was, and was supping coffee. He didn't look up to see the person seated opposite him, he knew it would be Jack. 

"Hey." Jack greeted. 

"Good night?" He asked, laughing. Jack laughed too, it was always a god night when the two came here. Before they could talk any more Crystal came over, 

"Want to order anything?" She asked, smiling seductively at Jack, remembering the events from last night. 

"Erm, I'll have a cup of coffee please." 

Ramon shook his head, he didn't want anything. Minutes later she returned with his drink, steaming hot. He slowly sipped it, trying not to burn his tongue like he usually did. 

"We'd better head back soon." Ramon said. 

"Yeah, I was supposed to take some of the guys out with Pedro, show them a few things." 

"Well theirs a change of plans. I spoke with Claudia earlier, were going to have a party instead, no work today."

"What's the occasion?" Jack asked, curious. 

"Hectors return! Don't worry Jack, I don't expect you to stay for long. Just think of it as a day off work." 

"Sure." Was all he said. 

The two finished their drinks in silence and were ready to leave. Jack told Ramon he'd get the bill and Ramon waited by the door for him. He paid the bill and Crystal told him he should stop by more often. Jack reassured her he would be back, then the two left and walked back to Ramon's car, where they then sped off back towards the ranch. 

Ramon seemed excited by the party, as he spoke about it to Jack his eyes lit up, it seemed he wanted it to be perfect, even in such short notice. Jack told him he would go, but as a lookout, to make sure everything goes as planned. Ramon was thankful for this, he didn't want anything to go wrong. 

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Okay so this is just a filler chapter... but please review! I really don't think anyone is reading this! Cheers. 


	13. Chapter 13

Claudia had been busy all day, preparing for the party that would be happening later in the night. Hector was with Ramon sorting some business things out before they attended the party. They decided it would be too hard to pull off a surprise party in one day, so they had told Hector, who seemed very pleased. 

Claudia had been rushed off her feet all day, but now it was paying off. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror as she continued to comb through her thick hair. She wore a simple white knee length, strappy dress. She was never one to obsess about herself, but knew she would knock all of the men dead tonight. She disregarded the comb and began to apply a little clear lip gloss, she decided that was all she was going to wear, taking a natural look for the evening. 

She thought about pleasing Jack; she prayed he would think about her once he saw her. The two hadn't really talked since that evening; that evening! She blushed as she thought of that night she had spent with Jack, a real night of joy and ecstasy; how she longed for another one of those! 

She knew Jack would be attending despite his discomfort at social events. Hector had informed her he would be there, on alert. Whether he was on alert or not meant nothing to Claudia; as long as she could see him, even just a glimpse, she would be satisfied. She realised she had been craving him since they last spoke, she needed him, longed for him, and tonight; she would satisfy a small part of herself, which was all she could ask for. 

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Jack rubbed the towel fiercely through his hair, drying it off from his cool shower. Hi was still slightly hung over, an wasn't looking forward to the evening. He really did not enjoy social events, especially parties. He had already decided he would have a few drinks and keep watch, keep his distance from everybody. 

Everyone, he thought, even Claudia. He needed to stay away from her, he thought. If he stayed away he would stop thinking about her. At least that was the plan. All day he had found his thoughts stuck on Claudia. He was mesmerised by her, she was like an old legend. He though of her in awe and wonder, yet wondered if she was real, or just a figment of his imagination. She couldn't be that perfect, could she? he asked himself. 

H realised that he had to stop obsessing about her; yet took delight in the thought that he may see her tonight. He wondered if she was thinking of him, if she wanted to see him tonight. He hoped like hell she did, he needed to see her, to feel her touch, to smell her scent. He realised, for the fist time, that he needed her love. 

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The party had been going well; Ramon had noticed. Everyone came out to celebrate Hectors return, and their were no problems. This was one in only a few events where Ramon had allowed himself to get drunk. When he did this, he could still never fully relax, he could never let his guard down. But this was different tonight, as he knew Jack was on the lookout. As long as Jack was their, Ramon couldn't have a care in the world, everything would be fine, and if anything did occur, Ramon was confident Jack could handle the situation drunk, better than he himself could sober. 

He walked through the crowds of men to his beloved brother, who was in a deep drunken conversation with Claudia. He approached the couple and slung a heavy arm around Hector; 

"And how are you my little brother?" He laughed. 

Hector was drinking deeply from a bottle, and pulled it back to reply, "I am fine Ramon, in fact, I think I am the luckiest man in the world." He paused to take another deep pull form the bottle, before pointing to his left where Claudia sat next to him on one of the white plastic chairs, "With the most beautiful angel on one side, and my brother on the other. What more could I ask for?" He slurred, before finishing the bottle off. 

Ramon laughed and Claudia blushed. Inside she was uncomfortable, she had been keeping an eye out for Jack all night. She caught a glimpse of him earlier talking to some of the men, but he obviously hadn't seen her. Not realising what she was doing she sighed aloud. Both brothers picked up on this and Ramon asked, 

"What's wrong? Aren't you enjoying the party?" He asked concerned. She knew how much both men wanted to make her happy. She thought it was ironic, the one person who could truly make her happy was nowhere to be seen, yet there were these two men, both in love with her in different ways, and she still wasn't satisfied. Instead she had fallen for the man that she was having second thoughts about; did he even care about her, or was it just a one night stand for him? 

Realising she hadn't yet answered their queries she flashed them both a fake smile, and said, 

"Of course I am enjoying myself, I am just a little tired. It's been a long day." 

The two nodded in agreement, as her curious mind decided to ask questions. "Ramon, you don't normally drink at these occasions, is it such a celebration?!" She said laughing. 

" Ha! Jack is taking care of things tonight, so I though it would be okay, as a one off." At the mention of Jack she immediately perked up. 

"Why what's he doing?" She asked, not thinking of the possibility of the two becoming suspicious of her sudden interest in Jack over the past few days. 

"He's on call, is all. Not that there's anything to be on lookout for, you know how it is, we need to be on top of our game at all times to prevent accidents from happening." 

"Yeah..." She said, looking over Hectors shoulder, no longer interested in either of the two. Over at the plastic bar area she had helped set up earlier was Jack, talking to the man who was opening up a new bottle for him with a large bottle opener. She noticed she was going red, and was shaking slightly. He looks hot, she thought. Wearing plain black trousers and a white T-shirt, that sat just right on his biceps, showing off peeks of his tattoos. She realised she had caught her breath and was staring. She quickly turned her attention back to Hector, Ramon had already sauntered off somewhere, to talk to someone else in his drunken state. 

The two engaged in conversation once more, until Hector wanted to venture off to see everyone else he had missed whilst away on his trip. Claudia kissed him goodbye on the cheek and sat alone at the table. 

She sat alone twirling the glass of alcohol in her hands in a rhythm. Her mind travelled back to Jack, she couldn't get the image of him at the bar out of her head, he looked so good, she thought. Her attention was pulled away when she herd somebody pull out the chair next to her from beneath the table. 

She looked up expecting to see Hector, but again caught her breath when she saw it was Jack who was now seated next to her. 

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Please review, I will love you forever if you do!!! 

yes, there's more to come, I just need to get off my lazy but and write it, and that goes for all of my fics!! 


	14. Chapter 14

"Hi." Jack greeted as he sat down. 

Claudia tried to cover both her surprise and joy from showing on her face. "Oh, hi. I didn't see you their. With your dislike for such occasions I didn't even think you would be here!" She said, forcing out a fake laugh as she lied. 

"Yeah I've been keeping an eye out." He said, before gulping down drink from his bottle.   
  
"If your sat here drinking, then I don't think your going to do a very good job keeping lookout." She said playfully, raising her voice so it could be herd over the music. 

"There's not much going on tonight, and a few drinks wont hurt. And I have to drink something, or this music is going to drive me round the bend." He joked. 

Claudia smiled at him, she loved it when he joked. He wasn't good at it, but that wasn't the point. It was something he almost never did, and so it to her it makes her feel special when he does it with her. Claudia finally broke from her trance and saw Jack looking at her oddly. Going red, she realised she had been blatantly staring at him. 

"Eh ... sorry..." She said, embarrassed. 

Jack just laughed it off for a minute, but then it was his turn to stare. "Do you know how beautiful you are tonight?" He hadn't realised he was saying his thoughts out loud, but he didn't care, she was like a Greek Goddess, she was amazing. 

Claudia blushed and quickly looked around for Hector or Ramon. "Jack!" She hissed. "If anyone hears you then your dead." 

Jack just smiled. "Yeah I know, but I'm pretty sure I could put up a good fight against this whole compound." He stated, before he realised exactly what he was saying. That was not the way to think, he was going to leave Mexico after completing the mission, not wiping out the Salazars. 

"Well that's not the point. Its dangerous speaking like that in public." She scolded, pretending to be angry at him so he would realise he couldn't talk like that in public, about her, or the Salazars. 

He lent forward towards her with a mischievous grin on his face and whispered her ear, "Well your worth the risk." Claudia began to giggle, his voice was enough to turn her on alone, never mind when he whispered to her. Before she had a chance to reply he lent in again, "Come on, lets go. I'm sure nobody will miss us." She looked at him again and saw how much he wanted her, her lucky dress she thought, gets them every time. 

Claudia nodded, then Jack stood up and held his arm out, pulling Claudia up, who was by now, a little more than tipsy.   
  
"Where are you two off to?" 

Jack spun around to see Hector staggering over to them, not far away. 


	15. Chapter 15

"Hector!" Claudia said happily while Jack took a step away, letting her take the lead. "Jack was going to find you for me!" She said, playing on just how drunk she was, slurring her words. 

"Well what did you want?" He asked, before taking a big gulp from his bottle. One of many, Jack assumed, judging by how red his face was.   
  
"I want you!" She said before clinging her arms around him and kissing his passionately. The two finally finished and pulled away from each other. Hector went to ask Jack something, but they both saw that he was gone. Hector assumed he that he was giving them privacy of had other things to do, but Claudia instantly felt guilty. How could she be so stupid and do that in front of Jack? She scolded herself silently. 

"Where has he gone?" Claudia asked playfully, but their was a hint of pain in her voice present. 

"I don't know. He is supposed to be working now, he has probably gone to do so, instead of hand holding you." He said coldly. 

Claudia looked at him hurt, she could see one of his moods was coming on. She couldn't understand what brought his swings on, he normally didn't have them when he was drunk, but when the rare occasion came and he lost his temper drunk, it was always much worse. She wouldn't want to be in his line of fire when he got this way. 

"What's wrong now?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips, pretending she was annoyed, not letting him know she was nervous. 

Hector scowled at her and shook his head, "Like you would understand." With that he stormed off to get yet another drink. 

Jack had left as soon as Claudia had flew her arms around Hector. He was angry at Hector, but even more so at himself for letting him feel this way about someone. He grabbed another bottle to drink and began to walk the compound looking for trouble, he knew their would be none, but needed to distract himself from thinking about her, when she clearly wasn't thinking about him. 

Ramon had seen Hector get angry with Claudia and decided to go over and see if she was okay, "You okay?" He said, the slurs in his voice were real, she noticed. 

"Yes, he is in one of his moods." She said angrily. 

"Yeah well he is a little stressed I think." 

"Why?" She said with more emotion than she had intended. 

"I just got a phone call. Something big is coming our way, something very big. It will make us more money than the drugs ever will, but it will also put us on the radar, big time." Their was confusion present in his voice too. 

"And you don't know what to do?" She asked. 

"Exactly...... Terrorism isn't really our field, you see." He said as though it was nothing. 

"What!" She exclaimed. 

"No, no, no... don't misunderstand me.... if we get this weapon we can sell it for more money you can imagine, but it will be used for terrorism... were just worried about the potential risk, you know, of it getting traced back to us..." He paused as he rubbed at his eyes. "We are going to discuss it properly tomorrow." 

He looked around, and saw their weren't many people left outside. "The men have left a little early don't you think! What time is it?" He asked. 

"Its almost three in the morning." She broke off as a large yawn emitted her. "Most of them have got to be up at six for work."

"Yeah." He said, sounding down. They both looked up as Hector and Jack approached them and sat down at the two remaining seats at the little square table. Claudia tried to hide her joy at seeing him, so she turned to Ramon and spoke, hoping she would remain calm, she already felt flustered at the sight of him. 

"Don't let it get you down. If its going to cost your piece of mind then it isn't worth it." 

"Since when are you in the decision making process?" Hector snorted angrily. 

She looked at him hurt, and Jack was silently wondering how Hector couldn't not appreciate what he had. Yet he remained silent, he needed together as much information about this weapon that Hector had just told him of, as was possible. 

"When did they contact you?" Jack asked, trying to break up the tension. Hector immediately saw what he was trying to do and stood up angrily. 

"What has that got to do with anything? We are concerned with the risks of this Jack, were not concerned with the contacts." 

Jack tried to hold back a laugh at how stupid Hector was, of course the contact was important, the contact was the risk they were taking. Ramon also noticed what Hector had said and stood up next to Jack, who was also on his feet and started to laugh in his face. 

"My dear brother, it is a good job I love you so much, and its a good job we have Jack here, someone who knows what he is talking about." 

Ramon found this funny and Jack realised he was only being this brutally honest because of how drunk he was. 

"So Jack is better then I am?" He asked Ramon angrily. Their raised voices had caught the attention of the few other men who were still out, sat at the table nearby, watching the show as it unfolded. 

Jack decided he needed to get the attention back to this virus they had briefly spoken of, and get himself out of the middle of this argument. "Come on guys, leave me out of this. I thought we were talking about this weapon, not arguing over nothing." He said laughing. Ramon was about to agree when he saw Hector angrily push Jack while shouting, "You had better keep your mouth shut Jack or you will end up with more than that on you." He threatened motioning to his cast arm. 

This made Ramon slightly annoyed, as he knew that Jack could win Hector in a fair fight, but never would do so because of his respect for the Salazars. Jack said nothing but looked at him angrily. Claudia was furious now, because of his threat. She jumped up and yelled: 

"Hector why are you doing this? You are like a little child with a tantrum, what is the matter with you? Ramon is also stressed about this new deal that has come along, but he isn't threatening people who could kick his ass anyway!" She stopped for a breath but continued, as all three men stared at her shocked. "You are such a spoilt little brat, you don't deserve you wealth because you haven't helped attain it, Ramon and Jack have the brains, your stupid and ignorant-" 

Her rant stopped the second Hectors fist connected with her jaw. 


	16. Chapter 16

Claudia shrieked out in pain and fell to the floor. Hector began to kick her once she was down, screaming at her about respect. Jack stood in shock, it felt like it took him an hour to move, as though everything was in slow motion, when really it was mere seconds. 

He jumped around the table and grabbed Hector by the throat with his cast arm, and began punching him furiously with his other hand. After a few hits Ramon seemed to have come out of his trance of shock and tried to pull Jack off Hector. He wasn't too angry at Jack, not as much as he was at Hector. Ramon struggled to pull him off and the three men fell onto the ground. 

The fight continued between Hector and Jack, as the two rolled about on the ground trying to kill each other. Hector landed a few hits on Jack, but it was nothing compared to the damage Jack was causing Hector. 

The remaining men over on the other table realised what was happening and ran over. They all began to grab Jack, pulling him away. They knew that Jack and Hector were both high on the priority list, but Hector was considered far more important to them. They finally got Jack off the bleeding Hector and all three men struggled to hold him back. 

Jack tried to clam himself down, realising that he had just made a big mistake. Would it be his last? He looked out of the corned of his rage filled eyes and saw Claudia laid unconscious on the ground. Pulling himself from his thoughts was Hectors voice filled to, with rage. 

"What the f are you doing!" he screamed in Jack's face as the three men still struggled to hold him back. 

"I'm paid to protect the Salazar family, that includes her!" He yelled back. 

Jack watched as Hector looked even more angrier, he wouldn't have thought it possible. He was wondering where Ramon was, he would help him here. He sneaked another glance and saw he was leaning over Claudia, trying to wake her. Jack was pulling against the arms holding him back as he prayed that Ramon would turn his attention back to them, 'he can stop this.' 

Those were Jack's thoughts as the bottle smashed down against his head, the force of it pulled him down to the floor. He didn't see it coming but sure felt the pain and the blood pouring down his face. He laid on the ground still as the men backed away from him, certain he wouldn't get back up. He closed his eyes as he felt the shards of glass sticking out of his head. Everything he could hear was a blur, and he could see nothing. When he opened his eyes all he got was red, so he kept them closed. 

He herd Hector shout, "Your job was to protect me Jack, not her!" Hector was saying more but it wasn't to him, he was giving the men orders. Jack didn't understand them at first, but felt them as the three started to join in with Hector as they beat him. It seemed that this had finally got Ramon's attention as he started yelling at Hector, trying to get the three men, and Hector to stop hitting Jack. 

Jack was out pretty soon after this, but the one sided fight continued on. Finally Ramon managed to stop it, after firing shots into the air. He ordered the three men away, and looked disgusted at Hector. 

The two were stood on the ground, to one side of them laid Claudia, and a foot away on the other side was what was left of Jack. He was sprawled out on his stomach and all Ramon was seeing was the blood that surrounded him. He looked to Hector and saw their was a fair amount of damage on him too. 

"I called an ambulance." He said softly. "Pedro has sorted it out for us, they will fix them here then leave, they wont ask questions." 

Hector nodded as he began to calm down. "I didn't mean to hit her." 

"I know." He waited a beat. "But Jack was right, he is paid to protect us all, he did the right thing." 

Hector held his head down, he was disappointed that he had let his rage take it so far. He and Jack were best friends, Jack was a brother to him. But still, he thought, nobody ever hurts him, brother or not, he felt that Jack got what he deserved, his actions didn't show Hector respect, so he would learn. 

"Is he alive?" He asked, a little concerned. 

"I got a pulse, but... he doesn't look very good does he?" Ramon said. Both men were confused about how they were supposed to feel. Jack was a brother, a trusted friend. They did not know if they should they be angry with him, or happy that he did what was asked of him. It was clear that one thought one reason and the other one thought the other. 

"What are we going to do?" Hector asked., wondering how they were going to proceed with Jack. 

"Ill speak with him once we know which path were going down. If we buy this thing, we will need him. But I don't know if he is going to want to stay, we've both hurt him pretty bad in the space of a week, and for nothing really. I understand he has hurt you Hector, but he had a reason to. If he hadn't I would have. So lets just see what happens first." 


	17. Chapter 17

Ramon rubbed at his eyes furiously before pulling up one of the white patio chairs and sitting down. Hector did likewise quietly, he was still unsure of how to act with his brother. He knew Ramon would still be angry at him for what happened with both Claudia and Jack. He leant his head back and sighed, his face was hurting extremely bad. Pedro came running out of the house and handed him a bag of ice, damp towel and like he had instructed, a mirror. 

He took the things off Pedro, and before he could thank him, he was told that his man just called, the ambulance would arrive shortly. Pedro was excused and Hector began to look over his face with the small mirror. He let out a slight groan as he saw the damage done to his nose, he hoped they would be able to straighten it out, he didn't like how crooked it now was. He began to wipe away at the blood covering his face, and was whimpering as he did so. Once his face was clean the gashes on his forehead, eyebrow and cheekbone was noticeable. So was the swelling literally everywhere on his face. He was angry, he wasn't going to look so good for a few weeks at this rate, he figured. 

Ramon had been studying Hector the entire time, and was still very angry, but also annoyed. He waited until he had placed the ice against his head before he spoke. 

"You are in pain yes?" He said simply. He immediately noticed how Hector straightened up, trying to act tough he thought. 

"Not really, its looks worse than it is." 

"Then it can't be bad at all." He said coldly. "But with those pathetic noises you were making I would have though their was something bad happening to you." He tried to keep his temper in check and kept reminding himself that Hector was his brother, so don't go too hard on him. 

"Well, I have a broken nose, and I wouldn't be surprised if more wasn't damaged under the skin, you know." He said, again trying to act tough, Ramon noticed. Is this what he always does? He thought, did he do this tonight to look good to me? 

"So, if you are making those stupid noises because of your face, just think of how bad they are going to feel." He snapped, allowing his anger to get the better of himself. 

"She never should have said those things! She was being disrespectful Ramon, I thought you would understand that!" He also snapped his words, hoping it would get his point across. 

"You know what Hector, I am starting to believe that the only reason you made this mess, was to impress me. But you didn't." As he said the words he saw how much they had hurt him, but he tried not to show it. 

"Ramon, when have I ever been able to impress you since he came along?" He waited a beat, to watch the ambulance approach, its lights and sirens were off but it was driving at a very fast speed. "You can deal with this!" He said hurtfully before getting up and leaving. He walked across the dry ground and into their luxurious home. He climbed the staircase and went in his room looking the door behind him. He sat down on the edge of his bed and finally allowed his tears to creep out down his face as he sobbed quietly. 


	18. Chapter 18

Ramon pulled his hands out of his pockets as he approached the two men that were climbing out of the ambulance. The first man, who was extremely thin with a shaved head greeted Ramon. 

"Mr. Salazar, our superiors told us to take good care of you and your needs." 

"Thank you." He said, after shaking his hand firmly, before turning to shake the second mans hand, who then asked him, "Are you okay sir?" 

"Yes I am fine. It is these two you need to look at. To be truthful, the girl isn't my concern, I think she will be fine, but he is messed up pretty bad, he is the concern here gentlemen." 

"Right, I'll give her the quick once over, you determine his condition, then we will see what we can do for him." The first man instructed his partner, before going over to Claudia. Ramon watched as he began checking her over, then he went and sat back down, thinking about Hector. He was angry at him, but felt guilty too, for saying those things too him. He didn't mean it hurtfully, but the truth was that Hector was an idiot when it came to business, and it was a good job they had Jack. He didn't think his words would trigger the attack that they had. 

After a few minutes the second smaller man approached him. The girl is fine, her jaw has minor swelling and will be sore for a few days. Once she wakes she will be relatively okay though." Ramon nodded his approval, which the young man took as his permission to leave and see to Jack. 

After 15 minutes the first man approached him and Ramon stood. As he did so he saw the other man stood by Jack looking worried. He couldn't see anything they had done to fix him, he wondered why this was. Was he already dead, he wondered? He hoped not, he wasn't sure he could find another worker with his capabilities. 

"What's going on, you haven't done anything to help him?" Ramon stated his confusion. 

"The man is very badly injured, we need to take him to the hospital." Their was a sense of worry coming from the man, Ramon noticed, but knew it was simply because he had wanted Jack fixed on the spot and it wouldn't be happening.   
  
"Why? Is it absolutely necessary?" He asked, hoping they wouldn't have to go to the trouble of sending him their. 

"I'm afraid it is sir. The subject has a major head wound which will need scans. We can also see multiple damage to the body, possible broken bones and internal bleeding too. We need to do a number of tests, x-rays and scans. He may also need a blood transfusion... it is instrumental that we take him in or he may easily die." He said quietly. 

Ramon began to think it through, and as he looked back over to Jack he saw the second man was putting a neck brake on him, and their was now something on the side of his face, which he assumed was to stop the blood. He realised their was more damage than he had anticipated. 

"Look, my only problem is that the hospital is going to ask questions, which I don't have the time to answer." He said, annoyed. 

"I understand. We can call it in as a un-sub tip off. We can send you the bill privately, no one will know who he is.... the only negative point is that they will have to run his prints to get his identification..." He paused, not knowing how to ask the next question. "Will this mans name be on the radar for anything?" 

Ramon thought for a moment, "No... not individually. Just make sure they don't now he is with the Salazars or that may raise some red flags." 

"Yes sir." 

"Thank you." Ramon said as he sat back down. He leaned his head back, his lack of sleep and worry kicking in now. He watched as the men loaded him onto a stretcher before getting him into the back of the ambulance. The second man stayed in the back while the first went round the front and got in to drive. Before he set off he gave Ramon a brief nod of the head. Then the ambulance sped off, this time with its lights and sirens. 

He went over to Claudia and checked on her before going in the house to find Hector in his room. He could tell he had been crying, but said nothing of it. Instead he looked up at him and said, "They had to take Jack to the hospital, but Claudia will be okay, she's still outside." 

Hector gave the briefest nod of his head, and Ramon grabbed him and pulled him into a deep embrace. "I'm sorry." He said in a gently tone. "I never should have said those things." 

They continued to hug until Ramon broke away, saying, "Go be their with Claudia when she wakes up, tell her your sorry." 

Hector smiled and left to go be with his fiancee. 


	19. Chapter 19

C.T.U. had been relatively quiet over the past few months, no drastic changes and no catastrophic crisis that needed their attention. Jack had been away over five months, and his presence was definitely missed. Tony Almeida had been in charge of both departments while he was gone, and would feel a whole lot better once he had returned. Most people felt this way, C.T.U. just didn't feel the same without Jack their barking orders. However, most people missed him because of the lack of his presence, the feeling of security that was no longer their, but most people were simply worried. He had gone under cover with a highly regarded drug king, and the last time he made contact, he claimed he was their right hand man. That was only three months in, and he hadn't made further contact since. It was natural for agents to loose contact completely when they were even halfway as deep as Jack, yet it was still worrying too, when you didn't know exactly what he was doing, where he was, and most importantly, if he was all right. 

Tony was sat in his office, another boring day where his mind wondered about what Jack would be doing in Mexico. His phone rang, and he answered promptly. After a quick conversation he hung up, pinching the bridge of his nose, telling himself to remain calm. Shelly Port had rang, informing him that she had found something very interesting and also worrying, when she did the daily scan. 

Shelly was a low level analysist, and everyday she checked the records for newly identified people. This person could be dead, or simply withholding their identity, so they run prints. When a set of prints is run, as part of the protocol she has to check the prints with anything on their database, simply as a precaution. So when Shelly had ran the new name checks and print through the server, she nearly spit out her coffee on the screen at the name she came across, Jack Donagh. She immediately called Tony, giving him the news, and he ordered her straight up to his office. 

She ran up the stairs, now excited and shocked at what was happening, although she didn't really have a clue what this meant, she new Tony would.   
  
"Shelly, sit down, tell me again what you said on the phone." He sounded weary, as though he almost expected it to be Jack s corpse. 

"I ran the prints search through my server, the only positive was Jack Donagh. I only called you because I thought that was Jack's undercover identity?" She said, confused. 

"Yes, it is. I need you to get me the name and number of whoever it was that ran his prints, as soon as you can." 

Twenty minutes later he was dialling the number, his hands shaking at the thought, was this man going to tell him they had recovered Jack's body? 

"Hello?" 

"Er, Hi. My name is Tony Almeida, I'm the director of C.T.U. Los Angeles. Earlier you sent some prints through to get an id., is that correct?" He asked quickly, wanting to get it over with. 

"Yes, I am a doctor at the hospital in Mexico, we had a un-sub here, we needed an id. on him."

Tony felt his heart jump, the hospital, their was a chance he was alive after all, although he knew their was just as much chance of him being dead. 

"Okay, we've got him listed, what is his condition?" His voice was shaking as he asked, he was petrified of hearing answer, but he needed to know. 

"He was in bad shape when we found him, but he is stable now." 

"Okay, I need to come and see him, its very important. I'm taking the next flight directly to you, do not discharge that patient." He spoke with authority, hoping it would make the young man do as he was told. 

"Okay, sure. He hadn't regained consciousness yet, and he wont be leaving for a while." He said chuckling, before he asked. "Why do you need to see him?" 

Tony hesitated, he was not going to reveal anything about Jack's identity, Ramon could easily find out. "He is a witness and its important I speak to him." 

"Okay, don't worry about it, he isn't going anywhere." 

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Jack opened his eyes slowly, the first time in three days since the fight. He blinked once, then twice, and noticed that his vision was not getting any clearer. He closed his eyes again, until he herd the voice of a young doctor. 

"Mr. Donagh?" He didn't respond at first, until he remembered that that was his name now, while he was here. Slowly he opened his eyes again, but couldn't see the person who was calling his name. 

"Its okay sir, your full of morphine and drugs, I don't expect anything is clear to you." 

Taking up all of the energy he could muster he asked, "Where am I?" He didn't recognise the voice, is was quiet and weak, and it hurt his throat to speak. 

"Your in the hospital." The doctor said in an enthusiastic tone, as though he were talking to a child. Jack closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep again, that was enough activity for one day. 

Tony sat in the chair at the foot of Jack's bed, and finally breathed out. He looked to the doctor, Sean he was called, but before he could ask his question he answered, knowing how he felt.   
  
"He is making progress, that's the first time he has awoken and the fact that he is speaking shows that his brain and body are trying to function again. He will be groggy and pretty much out of it for a while through, with all of the drugs were pumping in his system."

Tony had only been their an hour, and for the first time, decided to ask, "What actually happened, and what is wrong?" When he had arrived he was too scared to ask, he looked so bad. Large, thick bandages around one side of his face, bruising and swelling on his face, plaster and casts here and their. He had been too scared to ask, but now he wanted to know just how badly injured he was. 

If he was going to be out for a while Division would want him taken back to LA, they didn't think the mission would continue after what had happened. Pulling him back from his thoughts the doctor began to speak as he retracted a syringe from one of the few I.V's in his arms. 

"One of our teams brought him in after they received a tip off that someone was out on the road and looked pretty messed up. They went to the location and found him. We took him back here, ran the appropriate tests and things, managed to get him stable after some work, then sent for a name." 

"Okay, so what about his injuries?" 

"Their was an extremely deep head wound, which caused quite a lot of damage. We figured it was done with a bottle because we had to take shards of glass which had embedded in the skin out, from around the area. We ran head scans and feel the only real damage done is a fracture to the skull, and the wound itself. He was lucky it did nothing more. 

"He has 6 broken ribs, but we couldn't put a plaster cast over it because of their positioning with the hip, so we will have to wait and let them heal by themselves. I'm afraid this is going to be a long and painful process, he wont be walking around too soon. 

"Now, our biggest problem was his hip, we had to perform surgery to fix it up, it had shattered completely. Looks like he fell on it pretty hard. 

All the other injuries are simply cuts, bruises and scratches, which look like they could have happened in a fight." 

He stopped to check through the chart to see if their was anything he had missed. He knew he had already explained about the blood they were giving him, along with the breathing machine they had placed him on temporarily because of the worry of his brain giving out, due to the severe head wound. He had also explained about the few remaining wires in his arms and nose. He smiled at Tony, happy he had told him everything. 

Tony looked back at him, a little aghast with what was wrong with Jack. It was worse than he expected. "What about his arm?" he managed to say.   
  
"That was already on when we found him. It will be ready to come off in a few days though." 

Tony nodded, then stood up, feeling nauseous. "Please excuse me, I need to make a call." 

He went outside and called Michelle. He got her voice mail, so he left her a message, "Its me honey. I found Jack... I may not be back as soon as I had expected... I'll call again later. Bye." 

He hung up and went back into the familiar room and sat down, wondering how long he was going to be here, if Division was going to let the mission continue; and how Jack had ended up how he had. He wondered if his cover had been broken, but knew they wouldn't had happened or Jack would be dead. 


	20. Chapter 20

Claudia sat on the edge of her bed, silent. Hector stood against the window, looking out on his property. The chairs and tables were all still laid out from the party a few days ago, as was the blood. The Salazers hadn't bothered to clean everything up, their heads were still in the clouds. Hector had noticed how little Claudia had spoken since he hit her. He felt guilty, he didn't mean to hurt her. She had only spoken to ask him where Jack had gone. That had unleashed a whole lot more guilt, as he had told her they had a fight, as he put it. When she learned that he was in the hospital it was clear to her that it was more than any normal 'fight.' This had made her even madder with Hector, but she was also worried about Jack. 

Ramon's contact in the hospital had contacted him with an update. He had told the brothers his condition, and that they should probably wait at least a week before they come in to see him, he had been unconscious for the better part of three days, and the drugs were also keeping him in a steady slumber. The two had agreed they would wait a week, then bring Jack back to their site, where he could recover. They didn't want to lose their right hand man, especially not because of a stupid drunken fight. 

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Tony Almeida hung the phone up in frustration. Ryan Chappelle, once again, was doing his best to make their lives hard. Having been updated of Jacks condition, Division had decided they felt it best if they end this operation sooner rather than later, so would be calling him back with a deadline for Jack, in which he had to get all of the information possible. They had also decided that send over another man undercover in the hospital, to co-ordinate with Tony incase Jack received any unwanted visitors. 

This was not what Tony wanted. Either they let the operation continue, or they pull it off and fly Jack home now. A deadline would mean that, once Jack had recovered, he would be very limited for time to complete the operation, and that was a bad thing. His recovery alone was going to take time, he had been told. His hip and ribs were going to cause major problems, and he would need to spend a lot of time in physical therapy before he would be walking again. This made the deadline aspect hard to grasp, for it was likely it would be well before Jack had recovered. This also made it very dangerous, as what would the Salazers think about this? Would they still want Jack as part of their organisation? 

What made it worse was that it had been four days, since Tony had arrived here, and he hadn't had a chance to talk to Jack. He had been in surgery when he first arrived, and since then unconscious for the better part; so how could he discuss the plan with Jack? He walked into the room the Salazars had got Jack and saw the doctor disconnecting a few of the wires from Jack. 

"I want you to stop putting the drugs into his system. I am going to need him very much awake, as soon as possible." Tony stated with authority.   
  
"Sir, I don't think I can do that-" He tried, before Tony interrupted him. 

"What are you giving him." Tony asked, his tone a no-nonsense one. 

"Yesterday we withdrew from any more treatment drugs, as we thought it would probably speed his recovery, now we understand the damage and how his body is reacting to it. But we are still giving him plenty of morphine, he needs it." 

"I want you to stop, now." He said, staring at the single remanding i.v. in his arm. 

"Sir, with all due respect, this man is going to be in pain when he comes round. If you stop this supply, he is going to be in absolute agony, the worst kind." 

"I know, just do it please."   
  
The doctor relented, and did the necessary things to the i.v. and finally, disconnected it. 

"I don't know how long it will be before he wakes, but I don't think it will be too long, I'm sure the pain will wake him." 

"Thank you." Tony said to the young retreating doctor as he left. 

Tony sighed and rubbed his hands through his hair. He felt guilty about what he had made the doctor do to Jack, but it had to be done if he was going to speak to him. He knew Jack would understand, and probably would want to stop having morphine anyway, he could take the pain, Tony thought. 


	21. Chapter 21

Tony stood against the wall in Jack's room, his arms folded defensively across his chest, as he watched Jack come too, just a few hours after the phone call with Chappelle which had left him fuming with anger. Jack slowly awoke, not with the usual drug induced pain free haze, instead, with actual pain and no foggy vision. The first thing he noticed was the searing pain running through his hip, and the flashes of it around his ribs. He kept his eyes closed as he greeted the pain, his face showing just how he felt, which instantly made Tony forget his anger at Division, and instead feel both compassion and guilt for him. 

"Jack?" Tony asked softly, scared of shocking him in his present state. It was clear that he wasn't going to be able to go back down in Mexico right away, he was going to be set back for a while. When the doctors had first told him the state of his injuries, he had shrugged them off, as anyone did when it was Jack. Jack didn't exactly let injuries slow him down, but now he could tell this was going to be very different; and for Jack, very hard. 

Jack didn't reply to the person calling his name at first, instead he tried to open his eyes, and fought to stop them form slumping back down again. "Tony?" He grasped, his voice quiet, but still harsh. He sounded confused, as Tony had expected. 

"Hey, how you feeling?" He asked, genuinely concerned. He was thinking about calling the doctor back in to give him some morphine, after all, he would wait if he had to. 

"What are you doing here?" He asked quickly, as his eyes scanned the empty room. 

"Always business with you." Tony said sarcastically before letting a small chuckle escape him. "I came here when we found out that it was your body found by the side of a road in Mexico." 

As he said the words Jack tried to remember just what had happened. It hit him suddenly, as he remembered hitting Hector, and then he remembered Claudia on the floor, unconscious. At once he pushed himself up, he had to go find her, he had to make sure she was okay. Jacks efforts were met with excruciating white hot pain throughout himself, and he couldn't help but let out a yelp of pain, showing Tony the agony he was in. Seconds after his attempt to move he slumped back down, out of breath. Tony was already by his side, telling him he shouldn't move. He didn't have to, Jack thought. Their was no way he was going to invite that kind of pain in again. He silently wondered why it was hurting so much, whatever was wrong with him, it didn't normally feel so intense. 

"I should apologise." Tony said sheepishly. "I had the doctor cut of your morphine supply so I could speak to you. Its important, its about the mission." 

Jack nodded, which told him he accepted what he had done, and he wanted to hear what he had to say. 

"Division is giving you a deadline to complete this thing." Jack went to interrupt but Tony held up a hand silencing him. "At first when we learned about your condition we were going to take you back to the U.S. Its going to take a long time for you to recover Jack. But then they rang me earlier, they are still giving you an ultimate deadline as they were planning, but they aren't allowing for this 'incident'," he made speech mark notions with his hands as he said this. "They are giving you three months to get us everything we need, then they're coming in." 

Jack sat in silence taking it all in. Finally, he spoke. "What's wrong with me, I remember starting a fight with Hector Salazar, but that's about it. How long do they estimate I'm going to be out for?" He seemed more interested than concerned about himself. 

"Erm, the main damage was a head wound, but I think that's almost healed. But their are broken ribs which will cause you problems, and a shattered hip." Tony paused, trying to recall what the doctor had told him, while Jack was thinking, 'shit.' He knew the hip was going to be a major problem, he was not going to be able to walk for a while. "That's the main thing, I think, but the doctor made it very clear that recover is going to be a long process of physio." 

"Okay." He said, thinking aloud. It was taking his mind longer to process his thoughts, the pain slowing him down mentally; he was scared of it coming back as vicious as it had moments ago. 

"I'm going to be pretty useless for a while, I don't know if Ramon is going to want me back, especially after my fight with Hector." 

"Division also thought about this, and decided that of you are too badly injured to go back they would call the operation off." 

"Call the operation off, after how much work?" Jack snapped angrily. 

"I know, but you've got enough to bring Salazar in, haven't you?" 

"Yes, but...." He trailed off, thinking about this weapon that had Ramon so confused. "Their may be something big going down. I don't remember much, but it was definitely related to terrorism, I have to go back." As he spoke he knew his words were final, he would find some use of himself for the brothers, whether he was walking or not, he would stay. 

Tony nodded, "I'll go update Division," he lied. He left the room and found the young doctor he had become familiar with of over the past few days. 

"Hi. Erm, Iv finished with your patient, you can continue as usual." 

The doctor nodded and went straight in to give his patient the morphine he knew would be needing. 


	22. Chapter 22

Tony walked through the hospital, wipingthe sleep fromhis eyes. He walked inside Jacks room, to find him, again asleep, as the doctor fiddledwith an I.V attached to his arm. As he was his arm he noticed the white cast had been removed, but their was a long ugly scar painted into his arm. 

Tony stared at it shocked, just what had Jack been doing while he was in Mexico, he wondered. He knew Jack had a few tatoos, but never expected him to get one like this. He knew he would get done for having one at work when he returned, Tony thought. Division thought they were unprofessional, so Tony guessed that it probably had been something to do with his cover, so he had gotten it. That was the plausible explanation, yet it still surprised him, it seemed drastic. 

Tyring to forget about to tattoo he asked the doctor about Jack's recovery, again. 

"It will take a long time, but we can never give it an exact number, each person has individual circumstances. But I can tell you, once the bones are back into place and solid, its probably going to be at least a year of physio, to get him walking properly again." 

"What?" Said Tony, he had no idea it would cause such problems.   
  
"Oh yes, and that is just judging by the stammina his body is showing. For some people it takes much much longer." 

Before Tony could ask another question his earpiece cackled, it was the rookie they had sent to work with, telling him the two Salazer brothers had entered the building. He was stationed outside so he could coordinate with Tony and remain unnoticed. 

Tony jumped up, and told the doctor, "Listen, no one can no about my being here, it will endanger his life, understand?" 

The doctor nodded but was confused at Tony sudden alertness and the directness of his voice. Tony nodded and left the rom, and imediatly hurried into the empty office, belonging to the doctor whom he had just left. He had understood Tony needed somwhere to contact the U.S when he had arrived, and willlingly gave up his office for the duration of his stay. 

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Ramon and Hector walked through the building briskly, stopping briefly to get directions to Jack's room. Ramon was worried about Jack's condition, where as Hector was worried about how angry Jack would be with him. Still, neither of them voiced their concerns, to do that would be to show weakness. 

They spoke to the nurse at the desk and told her they were here to discharge Jack. The woman didn't like what she was doing, she knew how badly injured he was after a few clicks on her outdated computer, but she wouldn't say no to the Salazars, espescially when they offered to pay all of his medical bills on the spot, and give herself a hefty tip too, for her troubles. 

The nurse escorted them to the room and they entered, they were both shocked at the sight of Jack, he looked bad. His cast had been removed from his arm, and it was extremely thin and weak looking, compared to his other. His head and face was a mixture of bruises and stitches, and the area where Hector glassed him was covered thickly in square dressings, and the area around it was very swollen, and almost black with bruising. 

Ramon grabbed the clipboard and read the list of his injuries. He ripped the paper off and folded it up, placing it into his pocked. The nurse told them she would get everything they needed, and left the room. When she returned she had her hands and pockets full, and she slowly emptied the contents into Hectors duffel bag, explaining what each one was slowly, and what they needed ot do with it. The main thing she gave them was morpheine, but she also gave them other things which were also necessary. She also managed to get her hands on a portable I.V. She made sure to stuff lots of leaflets into the bag, which gave them extra informatin on Jacks hip. She explained how he would not, and should not even attempt to walk as it would further his injury. The bone had been set, and in a few months time he should begin physio therapy. 

Ramon thanks the nurse gratefully and rewarded her, not only with over a thousand dollar tip, but also a kiss on the cheek which made her blush. She opened up a black wheelchair and the two brothers carefully moved Jack from the bed and slouched him into it. He didn't stir, just moaned every few seconds as they moved his damaged body. 

Once they had him seated and were sure he wasn't going to fall out, they moved. Ramon slung the bag over his shoulder as Hector pushed the sleeping Jack through the back entrance of the hospital. They got to their van and again carefully pulled him out of the chair and laid him down in the back. They placed the bag and chair in the boot, then drove away, seemingly care free. However, both knew each others worries, their main player wouldn't be walking for a while. They were going to have to train more men. They knew that if it had bene someone else they would have just left them for dead in the first place, but they could still use Jack's brain. The still needed him. 

In the hospital Tony sat in the doctors chair behind his desk, wondering how long the Salazars were going to be. Rob, the man out front was keeping a watchful eye on the entrance doors, waiting for the brothers to leave. He didn't know they were already long gone. 

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Anyone reading this...... didn't think so!!


	23. Chapter 23

Claudia was in the kitchen, preparing dinner for both Ramon and Hector. She didn't know that they were bringing Jack back to their compound. She had asked of him the other day, but Ramon seemed to have a hard time answering her, so she left it. Part of her thought he was dead, but she knew that couldn't be, as if he was the brothers would have got over it by now. Something was definitely eating the pair of them up though, she noticed. 

The Salazars had too been busy. As Claudia had prepared the food they had finally arrived back home. With the help of Pedro and Lais, they finally had Jack back into the house. Lais suggested they put him in his own place, but Ramon sternly wanted Jack in the house, where he could be treated properly. He thought that the nicer they were, the faster he would heal, although he still knew it was going to be a long process. 

They moved him in through the patio of a large room on the ground floor. It had a grand patio, along with a luxury king sized bed, and an adjourning bathroom. The men softly placed Jack on top of the grey covers, and he left out a cry of pain. Hector noticed he was literally drenched in sweat. He turned to Ramon. 

"I think we've hurt him while moving him. I'll go get the stuff from the hospital." 

Ramon nodded his approval, and sat down on the edge of the bed, watching Jack closely. His heart was pounding in his chest, he felt guilty about what had happened, it wasn't his fault and he didn't deserve what had happened. He realised that for the first time in his life he cared from somebody's well being, other than blood relations. He silently questioned himself, 'does this mean I have a conscience, that I'm human?' He thought. Quickly he pushed the thought out of his mind, 'no that's not true,' he though, 'I'm so much more than a human being.' 

Hector emerged through the door with the big duffel bag and a few other things. Together they managed to get the I.V back into Jack's arm, after a few attempts. They weren't actually sure why they needed it, but did so anyway, seen as the nurse had told them to. Ramon then injected the things the nurse told him to into the I.V., and lastly the morphine. 

After an hour they thought they were finished with him, and they were debating on weather leaving the patio open or not. He may get cold with it open, but he was sweating, which would suggest he was hot. After a few minutes worth of debating Ramon grabbed a fan and turned it on. He was angry with himself for stressing over such small details, over somebody, in general. 

Lais came back into the room with one of the radios. He had taped the speak button down, so they could hear anything that happened inside the room. If Jack needed help, they would hear him, and be able to sort everything out. Both Ramon and Hector carried another radio, on the same channel as Jack's was. 

Once they were certain they could finally leave Jack, Hector turned to Ramon, guilt may as well have been written across his forehead in ink, his face said it all. 

"I'm sorry about all of this Ramon, I never wanted to cause this." 

Ramon nodded at him, he understood how it was when you couldn't control your temper, it happens, he thought, but he still wanted Hector to learn his lesson, he had cost Ramon his greatest asset. 

"Don't apologise to me Hector, it's him who needs to know." 

With that he grasped his large arm around Hectors shoulders as he led him out of the room. 

"Come on, lets get something to eat." 

With that they left the room, as Jack still slept. 


	24. Chapter 24

Tony had arrived back in America yesterday, and was now back inside C.T.U, in a meeting with Chappelle, Hammond and some other keys from Division, and was having a hard time being grilled by them. 

"Please, Mr. Almeida, briefly run us through what happened again, for the sake of the people here who do not understand."

Tony sighed, it was the third time he was repeating himself since he had arrived back. "I went to the hospital, as instructed. Jack was injured pretty badly, and was heavily sedated. I had the doctor stop his drugs so I could speak to him about the mission. Once he came round we discussed it at length. After this the agent I was co-ordinating with radioed me, with news that the Salazar brothers had entered the hospital. I left the room, so I wouldn't be spotted, as we couldn't risk blowing Jacks cover. After roughly an hour, I was informed that they had left. When I returned to the room Jack was gone. We later found out that a nurse had helped the Salazars in moving Jack, but we were told their intention is clearly not to harm him, since they cleared the hospital out of a lot of medical equipment and drugs he will be needing." 

The six suits all looked at each other thoughtfully, before Hamond spoke. "So where does this lead us Tony?" He sounded annoyed. 

"Well, its pretty much down to Jack now, sir." 

"But I thought he was.... injured. How is he going to deal with that?" 

"Sir, I don't know, but Jack will figure something out. He is aware of the deadline, and all we can do is hope for the best. If anything, the ball is in the Salazars court." 

"Which is exactly what we didn't want!" Chappelle interrupted, angered. 

"Sir the events happened unexpected, but they happened. All we can do is deal with them, so lets let Jack continue doing what he has been doing for the past months." 

"Fine Almeida, but if this fails, its your and Jacks necks on the chopping board. 

"And I wouldn't want it any other way, sir." Tony said under his breath as they all filled out, to go back to their desks and thumb twiddling. 

Tony say back down at the now empty desk. He hoped everything would end up okay, or more specifically, he hoped Jack wound up okay; he didn't like the odds. 

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Claudia stood over the plates as she dished mounds of food onto them. She watched as the two brothers tiredly slumped into their chairs at the large pine dinner table. 

"Been working hard?" She asked, genuinely concerned. 

"Yeah." Ramon replied, Hector seemed elsewhere.   
  
"I though you were going to bring Jack back today?" She tried to make her voice sound curious, not concerned. 

"We have." Ramon said bluntly, not wanting to think about the mess he was in. 

"He is? I bet he is ready for a big meal." She said laughing as she pulled another plate from the cupboard to fill for him. 

Ramon sighed, he didn't want to tell Claudia, he knew the two had a close friendship, and she always worried about him whenever he got hurt. 

"He wont be eating, he's... still pretty messed up." 

"What?" She said, her eyes glazing over. 

"He will be okay, but its going to take a while." He said trying to minimise the damage. 

Claudia rushed over and plonked their plates down before them both before pulling her apron over her head, messing up her hair. "Where is he, I want to see him." It wasn't a question, it was a statement, Ramon realised. 

"He is in one of the guest room," He said, "Just be careful in their, he is hurt bad." 

Claudia nodded before rushing off to find him, not caring about her dinner going cold on the kitchen side, while Hector continued to stare into space. 


	25. Chapter 25

Claudia walked into the guest room Jack occupied and slowly entered, making sure to close the door behind herself, she didn't want Hector to hear their conversation. She looked over to Jack and let a gasp escape as guilt overcame her, and she quickly realised any conversation they had would be one sided. She stared at his prone figure laid on top of the bedding, with bandages wrapped thickly around his head, bruises scattered here and their on his face. A positive thought quickly fluttered through her mind, at least they were only bruises and they wouldn't permanently mark his perfectly beautiful face. She saw their was some kind of protective material drawn around his hip area and could only guess what it was their for. 

She sat down on the edge of the king sized bed carefully, and gently placed a hand on his chest - she wanted contact with him. As she did so he immediately let out a small groan of pain, and so she jumped away startled and a little unnerved, wondering what she had done. She gently pulled up his loose shirt styled gown, and saw that the majority of his ribs were black and blue, and she mentally slapped herself for leaning on him, what a stupid thing to do. 

She glanced around the room and spotted the open duffel bag. She walked across to it and began to rummage through its contents. She saw all of the different types of drugs and pills, and pulled out a folded piece of paper which caught her attention, the one containing the list of Jack's injuries. She read through the sheet twice and felt like crying. Not only did he have a severe head wound and shattered hip; but she had leant on his ribs - most of which, if not all of them, were broken. She dropped the sheet back into the bag and walked around to the other side of the bed, careful not to knock any of the cables and wires from the I.V., which led into him. 

She chose not to sit down, she was afraid of hurting him further, so she stood and watched him sleep as the silent electric fan blew a gentle breeze in his direction, moving his thin blonde hair around in the process. Her heart was aching in her chest as she watched him, she felt so helpless. She wanted to pour her soul out and apologise to him, she wanted to confess everything, but because he was asleep she decided to leave the speech for another time. 

She thought about that night, she knew the only reason he was in the state he was in, was because of her own actions. Deep down it strengthened her love for him, he had protected her. She knew that if it had been Ramon who hit her, Hector wouldn't have done a thing. Jack was different, he not only cared for her, but he respected her too; which meant just as much. She moved back away from the bed and made to leave, but before she did so she finally spoke, her words cutting through the silence like a dagger. 

"I'm... I'm sorry about all of this. Everything that happened was my fault, and you shouldn't have to suffer because of my actions." 

It didn't take her pain away, nor did it make herself feel any better, but it was better than nothing. With that she left the room without looking back. Once outside the door she quickly rubbed at her eyes before going to find Hector. 

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The next day Hector and Ramon had a heated discussion about Jacks drugs, and eventually decided that they would slowly reduce the amount day by day, which would mean that each time he became conscious he would become more responsive, and if everything went according to plan, he would eventually get used to the pain. With their deadline for the virus only a few months away, they needed Jack, they couldn't afford to wait. As a test they decided to see how he responded once they disconnected the I.V which was pumping drugs into him. Not much happened at first and he continued to sleep, but this was expected as some drugs were still in his system. A few hours later, during Ramon's watch (they had decided to leave the walkie-talkies during their little experiment), a muffled cough escaped Jack before she slowly began to blink, before his eyes opened properly. 

Ramon silently watched as Jack looked around the room confused - this wasn't his hospital room. Once seeing Ramon he could deduce what had happened. They had probably brought him here - less questions. 

"How are you feeling Jack?" As Ramon spoke Jack took note of the concern in his voice. 

"Bad." He stated as he tried to sit up. As he moved he was met with the searing pain he had before, but this time he continue to push himself until he was in an upright position - even if he was almost crying from the pain. He had to show Ramon that his injuries weren't going to be a problem. 

"Jack," Ramon started in a doubtful tone. "You should not be moving at all." 

"Yeah.... But it doesn't hurt quite as much as it did last time." He gasped, still taken with the pain. 

"That's because your hip is slowly healing on the inside, The bone is set, it just needs time to do so properly. Once it has, you can slowly start to move around - but that's going to take some time, and you have to stay as still as possible for at least a week - otherwise the hip may be disrupted or even dislodged." He paused, anticipating his reaction at his next statement. "I'm going to have to keep you sedated for that duration." 

"What?" Jack croaked, fighting off a bout of dizziness in his head. 

"Listen, we get through the next five days, then you can begin your recovery. Maybe even get you moving if its not too painful." He compromised, knowing his terms were non negotiable. 

"I can take the pain." He intervened angrily, thinking about his deadline. He needed to work as soon as possible. 

"No you can't." 

Ending the debate Ramon reconnected the I.V. into Jack's hand. He didn't want to do so, Jack was very responsive when conscious - but he couldn't take the risk of him injuring himself further. Jack was powerless to stop him and could feel the drugs quickly effecting him, he immediately felt better. As he watched Ramon through his drooping eyes, he spoke with slurred words, 

"Your making a mistake."

After that he closed his eyes, once again oblivious to the world. 

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Yay for me, I finally updated!!! Please review it would mean a lot to little old me :) 


	26. Chapter 26

The first three days of Jacks five-day-sleep had gone reasonably well - as well as they had expected it to anyway. On one of the nights it seemed that he was having a hard time as he kept crying out every now and again, so they had called in their personal Doctor - Gregory. Gregory had then been offered employment with the Salazar's as Jack's full time doctor for the duration of his recovery, however long it may take. However, they also made it clear to him that it was to be sooner rather than later, if possible. Gregory was also a specialist in physiotherapy, so the Salazars were certain that Jack was in good care. The doctor, along with Hector, Claudia and Ramon all carried separate radios tuned into the one in Jack's room, so they could hear what was happening on Jacks end constantly. If their was trouble, they would know - the Salazar's liked to know everything that happened - this was their star product after all. Claudia had nearly died when Hector had told her about the listening device in his room. He would have killed her without a seconds thought if he had herd her tell Jack the things she wanted to, as he would know she had betrayed him. 

The three were seated together having dinner on the evening of the fourth day. The stress was beginning to empty from the brothers as they were happy Jack would be awake soon, and so he would begin his recovery. He would be able to help them, which was very important giving their situation. Relief was a feeling that clearly getting stronger and stronger throughout the evening, they were a lot more confident of his condition now they had Gregory. 

After they had finished eating Claudia began to do the dishes while Hector and Ramon dried and put them away. At once all three radios sparked up on them, noises from Jacks end came filtering through. They herd a yell and quiet moans, and Jack's voice too, drowsy but pained and.... scared, which was unusual for Jack, even in his state. The three listened before Claudia volunteered to go see to him. Ramon advised her to give him some more of the sedative, as he thought that he must be coming round and feeling the pain. 

Claudia rushed through to his room, almost running. She had it in her head that if he needed more sedative then their was a chance that he would wake up. She needed to speak to him. She knew it wasn't one hundred percent that this would happen, but she couldn't risk the chance, and if not, she thought, she at least wanted to help him, to comfort him. She didn't want him to be scared, and she needed to help him. She felt that she owed him so much, after everything that he had done for her. He had not only defended her against Hector, but he gave her hope. That in itself had already began to change her life. 

She quickly entered through the white door and made sure to shut it behind her so it clicked, before moving over to Jack. The first thing she did was announce that she was about to see to him out loud - so that Hector and Ramon would hopefully not give their radios any notice seen as she was sorting out the problem at hand. She then picked the black radio up from Jack's pine bedside table and gently turned the plastic dial around until she herd the faint click of it, turning it off in the process. She then carefully did the same to hers too - this was going to be a private conversation. 


	27. Chapter 27

Claudia sat down again, satisfied that their would be no outsiders able to hear them. She patiently watched him as he slept, willing him to wake up with her eyes glare, she wanted a conversation where the two of them were involved, not just her talking to him in a drug induced slumber, that hadn't helped her last time, and with the emotion she was feeling - she needed him involved. 

A painfully slow fifteen minutes passed, by which Jack's only 'progress' as Claudia would call it, was that he was slowly tossing and turning his head around, as though he was dreaming. She was beginning to feel a little guilty now, maybe he was in pain because of her actions, but so was she - her heart was aching to speak to him, to hear his voice, to see his smile. She tried to convince herself that he would wake soon, even though she was becoming more certain deep down that he wouldn't. 

She nearly died of shock when she herd him quietly mumble her name sadly under his breath. "Yes... I'm hear Jack." She said softly, waiting for him to speak again, even if he seemed to be sleep talking. 

What she herd him mutter next was not as positive, she thought. 

"No Terri....." She didn't know who Terri was, but it was clear that even through his croaked voice he was upset about something. 

For the next ten minutes he began to move about more and he seemed angry, as he threw out random names every few minutes. They held no place for her, so she wondered who these people were. She had now herd of three women, Kim, Nina and herself, a man named Mason and another named Victor, and of course the name which for some reason was bothering her more than any, Terri. She didn't know which category to put that one in seen as it could easily go into both. She didn't know why she was getting so worried about all of these names, but couldn't help wonder who they were, and what meaning they held for him, seen as his demeanour seemed to change with each one. They had to be of some importance or he wouldn't be dreaming of them in his state. Especially Terri, she thought. Whenever he came out with that one she could detect pain and sorrow in his voice, guilt even. 

She decided that she no longer wanted to speak with him, she found herself getting annoyed with the names. Surely he had to have had something with the female ones, as her name was called with them. Were they all called out for the same reasons, was she simply another woman he had on the go, along with a long list of other people? 

Getting up she wandered over to the bathroom trying to reassure herself that this was not true, that she had absolutely no idea who the people were or what they had to do with him, and that she shouldn't be so nosy as to eavesdrop on him while he dreamt. She wet a cloth with cold water and walked back into the room, and quickly but gently wiped it over his face, neck and arms to cool him down, as the room was so hot despite the fans efforts on his bedside table. 

Now she was no longer mad at him but at herself for being so rude to him, in a way she had invaded his privacy, and she had a feeling that if she knew what she had done he would no longer trust her as much as he did. 

She walked over to where all of the equipment was and grabbed the syringe with the blue stripe over the packaging, took off the case and carefully injected it into the drip. She knew Hector and Ramon liked it to go directly into his arm as it worked more effectively, but she had a fear of needles and didn't like the idea of piercing someone's skin with one - and she still held on to the hope that if she did it this way it may make him wake up faster in the long run. Even though her need to talk to him had faded some, she still wanted to see him smile. 


	28. Chapter 28 short!

Hector stormed around the house, now angry for no particular reason. 'Why was Claudia taking so long, and why wasn't she answering his radio calls to him,' he wondered? He hurried through the house to the room Jack was in and bounded through the door, shocking Claudia who was busy packing things back into the duffel bag where they were kept. 

"What are you doing?" He demanded. 

"Taking care of him like I said he would!" Claudia replied, angry with his tone, it was obvious to her he was in another mood. 

"Well your taking long enough!" He shouted, knowing he didn't have a leg to stand on for the argument, he was shouting at her for no reason, but it made him feel better, so it was worth it. 

"What is your problem?" She said boldly starring him in his face, not daring to back down. 

Her disrespect earned her a slap to the face, and then he attempted to leave, but Claudia's yells to him prevented him from doing so. 

"That right Hector, run away, just run away from everything. Your a little man, hurting women to make yourself look better. We both know you are weak!" She yelled, enraged at him for hitting her. It wasn't only this that fuelled her though, her frustration in not waking Jack up had also helped a little. 

Hector turned around and glared at her with a piercing stare, if looks could kill at that moment, she had no doubt that she'd be in a grave. He stayed this way for a moment, his breathing heavy as he tried to calm himself down, his deep breaths now slowing some. 

"You dare speak like that to me again," He threatened, his finger lingering in the air in her direction. "And both you and your family will regret it." 

Once he was gone Claudia walked back over by Jack and sat down in the chair by his side, her emotions taking over her. She understood Hectors tactics easily, because he couldn't control her he was going to try do so by using her father as a threat. She knew Sergio was in no danger here, she could stab Hector and kill him, and he would still be unharmed and raised like a prince by Ramon. But her father, she knew, would not share the same fate. 

Upset, she finally let her tough facade fall down, and after glancing towards the door which Hector had slammed to make sure it was still closed, she leant down over Jacks chest, one hand lingering through his hair the other tracing gently over his skin, and started to cry. 

Throughout the sobs she whispered to him, even though she knew he could not hear her. 

"Wake up soon Jack, please. Just wake up and take me away from here." 

_Short update, hope you liked it. This will not be updated regularly, as its a pain in the ass! Hopefully I'll find my muse for it again and complete the darn thing, but until then, it will just be a bit at a time!_


	29. Chapter 29: Even shorter

The following morning Hector, Ramon and Gregory all stood around Jacks bed watching him eagerly. Just minutes ago Gregory had disconnected everything from him so they were expecting him to wake soon. 

Roughly three hours later Ramon was slumped in the chair by his bed, Gregory sat on the desk against the wall trying to keep his eyes awake through the boredom and Hector lolled against the wall dozing softly on the comfy thick carpet. Ramon had tried to get Gregory to wake Jack up earlier, but Gregory seemed to believe it was important he woke on his own. It would be hard enough for him to respond from his drug induced state naturally, and waking him up before his body was ready could cause problems. Ramon had been eager to wake him but agreed with the Doctor, that was why they had employed him after all, so he decided he should at least take his advice. 

Jack slowly yawed, his eyes still shut before slowly opening them tiredly. He finally got them open and had to fight their urge to close again, so he gently rubbed at them with his hand to try keep them open. He held his arm over his eyes to try block out the lights glaring stare at them, they would take a while to adjust. He slowly looked around the room and saw Ramon waking Hector on the floor, and another man he didn't recognise approach him. 

"How are you feeling Jack?" He asked, using an open question as a device to gauge his responses by. 

Jack ignored his question and closed his eyes again, his eyelids happy to be back to the way they had become used to over the past few days. He spoke quietly and realised just how dry his mouth was as his voice croaked out. 

"What's happening Ramon?" 

He had to ask, his memory was still fuzzy and his mind drew a blank when he tried to remember what had happened after his talk with Tony in the hospital. Everything after that was gone. 

Ramon walked over and smiled at Jack as he gently patted him on his shoulder. 

"This is Gregory, he's a doctor who's going to be helping you. The hips going to be a big problem, so let him help you Jack." He had decided to add the last part on as he knew how Jack reacted to pain, and having someone help him around would not put him in a good mood, he'd probably try to refuse. But Ramon couldn't risk him hurting himself further, their star player was already on the bench, they could at least use him mind while he recovered, and that was the instrument they needed most of all now, given their new offer. 

Ramon was surprised that Jack didn't argue about his new 'companion,' he just closed his eyes accepting the news. 

"Can I get some water?" He croaked again, and Hector turned to leave the room as he asked. Jack watched him turn and leave before he closed his eyes again, he couldn't understand why he was so tired when he had been sleeping for the last God knows how long. When Hector returned with his glass of water he was already asleep, much to the brothers disappointment. The would have to wait. 

_Another shorty, I'll get the end eventually!_


	30. Chapter 30

Jack woke for the second time in the day and was greeted warmly by Gregory. 

"How are you feeling Jack?" He asked whilst checking his temperature. 

"Weird." Jack croaked before taking a moment to assess himself. "I feel... heavy." He muttered confused. 

The doctor smiled as he said this. "Well that's to be expected. It will feel strange at first, but then you will get used to it." 

Jack nodded slowly as the doctor continued. 

"Your movements are going to be restricted from now on. All of your wounds are healed, and the bone in your hip has set, but that's the easy part, I'm afraid. Moving is going to be hard, and painful for the most part. You will make progress slowly, but one thing you must be clear about Jack, is that you can not attempt to walk, it will put unneeded stress on the bone and will damage it further. I know how hard its going to be for you sitting around in a wheelchair barely moving - but its for your best interest. If the bone is injured before your body has had time to adjust to it, it could result in permanent damage, and none of us want that." 

Gregory finished his lector and Jack sighed, he had feared this, and the worst thing was that he knew that the man was right - he was going to be down for a while. 

"How long 'till I'm back on my feet again?" He asked feebly, dreading the answer - it was only going to add unneeded strain on the mission, and along with the deadline things weren't looking good. 

"Once your body has adjusted to the strain and we've gone through the motions you'll be back on your feet - but it will be a slow process." 

"Okay." Jack muttered as he realised the man hadn't told him how long it would take. "So, how am I going to get about if I can't put weight on my legs?" 

The doctor smiled inside as Jack said this, it showed him that Jack knew the deal with his hip - and he would probably take his advice.   
  
"We have a wheelchair. But don't worry - I am a specialist in physio, and were going to get you started right away. And with the way the Salazars talk about you I expect you will be standing shortly. I know It doesn't seem much but that alone will be a big milestone - and after standing, walking is the next step. As I said earlier, we will make sure your back on your feet as soon as we can." 

Jack smiled, wondering if things were going to move faster after all. "Thanks." 

"Ive flushed your system of most of the drugs we had you on, but I kept a manageable amount of morphine in, as although you aren't going to be walking, you will still be moving, so this will help you handle the pain from that." 

He looked at Jack who was listening intently, taking it all in. 

"Anything you want to ask me?" 

Jack shook his head, then changed his mind. "Actually, I want to take a shower. But.... I can't walk to the shower?" He asked, allowing a slight laugh to cloud his embarrassment, he didn't know what he was going to do. 

The doctor laughed, sensing his embarrassment and hoping to lighten the mood. 

"We'll get you in the wheelchair and I'll let you sort yourself out from their. But I'm afraid its a bath, you can't stand in the shower...." He trailed off, hoping his words about staying put were going to sink into him soon - he had said it a few times already yet it hadn't seemed to register in his mind yet. 

"All right. Can you call someone to bring me my stuff down here?" 

"There's a lot of your stuff in the cabinet in the bathroom, you will be able to get everything you need yourself, its all accessible - which is why we moved you down here." 

"Okay."

Gregory walked over and grabbed the black wheelchair from the wall and opened it up, before setting it down next to the bed. He then held Jacks arm gently but firmly as he helped him sit up slowly, repeating to Jack his need to keep his movement slow and steady, and asking if he was all right. 

Jack was doing okay, but he felt so heavy he wanted to drop back down onto the bed. Once sat up he slowly moved himself over the sheets to the edge of the bed, the doctor holding him up as his back threatened to fall back down onto the mattress, struggling to take the strain. 

The doctor instructed Jack to push himself into the chair using his arms without moving his legs - which he just about managed, grimacing in pain as he did so. The pain was so sharp as he moved, which he couldn't understand. Once seated still it went away, but he was still focused on it. Sensing his confusion the doctor interrupted. 

"Its only so bad because your body has stiffened up. Most of the time movement like that will send twinges down the hip but nothing more, once its got used to the activity. It will only be like this for a short while - but now you must understand why you can't stand until your ready - it will be extremely painful." 

Jack spoke up, his voice harsh form the pain. "Believe me, I am not going to try hold my weight up, after that." He spoke calmly, hoping the doctor would finally believe him and stop repeating himself he was getting annoying. 

"Good. Then I'll leave you too it. I'll be next door, if you find you do need help, shout me. I'll come back in an hour or two to see how your doing, okay?" 

"Yes, and thanks." Jack said to the mans retreating back, watching him as he left the room. 

He then slowly wheeled the chair through the room to the adjourning one which was the bathroom. He slowly managed to swivel the chair around so he could close the door behind him and lock it too. He realised just how hard it was not using his legs for the simplest tasks. He wasn't sure why it was his legs he wasn't allowed to move when it was his hip that was damaged, so he assumed that when he moved his legs, the hip bones either moved too or were connected some how. 

He didn't think about this too long, his thoughts slipped to the Salazars, and how they would react to his newly founded restrictions? Surely they wouldn't be relying on his abilities anymore? He didn't know if this was good or bad, but decided he still had the sympathy card to pull if things went down hill. After all, the only reason he was in this position was because of Hector - he would just have to make sure they didn't forget that. 


	31. Chapter 31

Jack slowly twisted the gold taps and watched as the bath tub filled up at a stead pace. He idly wondered if he would get to see the brothers today, he thought that he probably would, but he had to make sure he did. He had a few... requests. He decided that he was going to take full advantage of his injury, and with the brothers lack of intelligence in the first place, it shouldn't be hard to get what he needed. He would get a vehicle, belonging to himself, legit. That way he would have a clear means to a getaway plan, if needed. He could also make more regular calls to C.T.U if this went as planned. He could simply claim he was riding into town for his repeat prescriptions. He laughed slightly as he realised this was going to be easier than he had thought. He was going to get the things he needed with ease, and he would no longer be risking his neck on the front line of Salazar's army. 

Instead, he would probably have a front row seat, next to the Salazars, in any discussion, plan or problem. He deduced that the brothers still wanted to use him for his mind, his tactics and his general knowledge in the business which was what had impressed them early on. Otherwise, they would have killed him - why bother going through all of these motions if they were not going to use him? He would probably be an advisor of sorts for them - which was perfect. He would automatically have information about any goings on at the Salazar camp, even things which they may have previously decided to keep from him. He would have the information at his fingertips freely - he just had to use this to make sure he took the two down. With everything he had seen so far during his stay he knew he had enough to give them each a seat on death row for the rest of their lives. But that wasn't what he wanted, right now he was more curious in the offer made to them, which Ramon had mentioned over a week ago to him. 

If the Salazars were switching markets into terrorism, he could even bring down adjourning terrorist camps too. His eyes widened at the thought of this, it would make the mission even more of a success, he would end the Salazar cartel plus other terrorist ones, and send out a warning to the rest of them in the process. 

He turned the taps off and after slipping his shorts off he pushed himself into the bath. He caught his leg as he pulled himself over the ledge, but it didn't hurt. He noted this in his mind, he would ask Gregory when he next saw him. He thought that it must only be certain movements which aggravate the wound. Either that or the morphine he was told was in his system was doing its job. He hoped it was the first, he didn't want this injury to become too much of a problem. Although he knew it was going to help him delve deeper in the underbelly of the cartel, he didn't want the Salazars to think of him as weak either. He was going to show them how he could handle it, and still be of great use to them. He was going to impress them. 

As he laid back the hot water helped to relax him. He decided that as soon as possible he would make a call to Tony, tell him about the terrorist connections and see if he could get Division to put his return date back. Otherwise he was going to have to form a pretty swift plan of action, if this was going to be as successful as he hoped it would. 

30 minutes later he was out of the bath, clean and feeling much better. He dressed slowly, in a pair of grey shorts and a black T-shirt. He didn't bother with anything else, he was too tired, and he had felt a snagging pain in his hip a few times as he had manoeuvred the clothes over his body, clearly disturbing something in his bone. What it was, was anyone's guess. 

He opened the door again and slowly wheeled the chair back into the main room. He pulled himself up onto the bed and rubbed his hands across his eyes, he was exhausted. He couldn't understand why. He had been asleep for 5 days, and now he was tired, after having a bath and dressing himself. He laughed a little to himself, thinking about how silly it was that he was so tired. He hadn't exactly done anything worthy of tiring him in the past few hours. 

He laid back on the bed and closed his eyes as his mind willed him to sleep. He gave in, deciding that his body probably knew best. He fell to sleep with dreamy thoughts of seeing the Salazars tomorrow. Tomorrow, he thought, it will be. The start of the demise of the Salazar name. 


	32. Chapter 32

Jack felt something on his face as he slowly began to wake up. Then he could feel something through his hair, something soft, like... fingers? He opened his eyes slowly to see Claudia sat next to the bed leaning over him, with one hand on his cheek and one in his hair. He smiled as his vision straightened out and he realised who it was, before the defence system in his brain kicked in. 

"Where's Hector, or Ramon?" He asked quietly, despite so much sleep he was still void of any energy.   
  
"They are out." She whispered. "Hector asked me to watch you, they were worried because you were asleep." 

"Oh." Was all he said in reply, his mind wondering where they were going and if it was a business or leisure trip. 

"Ramon asked me to help you, when Gregory is not around. And of course, with the things that you may not be comfortable with Gregory helping you with." She smiled mischievously. 

Jack frowned. "He did?" 

Claudia nodded her head. 

"Where have they gone?" Jack asked, trying to keep his mind in order and not let ii stray in the direction Claudia's presence was directing it to. 

"For a drink, I don't know. Probably picking up hookers." She said, no pain in her voice. 

Jack slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, once again feeling the pain in his hip as he did so. 

"So who's in?" He asked, now allowing his mind to wander in that direction. He didn't have any information about where the Salazar's had gone so he might as well have some fun he thought. 

"Saul is looking after Sergio upstairs in his room. Other than that, nobody... just you... and me." She couldn't help but linger on her last words seductively as she moved the hand off his cheek and gently ran her nails down his bare arm and over his new tattoo. 

Jack smiled at her and pulled his arm around her, pulling her closer to him, when he leant in to give her a deep kiss. Claudia began undoing her buttons whilst kissing him, but suddenly Jack pulled away and placed a hand on hers, stopping her from undoing any more. 

"What is it?" She asked, clearly disappointed.   
  
"You might want to close the door." He muttered mischievously before laughing in her ear, knowing she had though he didn't want to do anything. 

"Jack!" Claudia laughed as she play slapped him on his chest, him laughing too. 

She stalked over to the door and closed it tight, popping the latch through its loop too, locking it. Their were to be no interruptions tonight, she thought before approaching Jack once more. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Jack stirred in the morning and could hear someone running water in his bathroom. He smiled in memory of the night before, even if it had caused him a lot of pain in the process it had been worth it. 

"Claudia?" He called sleepily, his smile growing just at the thought of her. 

"Claudia?" Gregory said confused as he came out of the bathroom with a basin and some other things. 

The smile from Jacks face dropped and was replaced with one of embarrassment mixed with worry. "Sorry, I didn't realise it was you. Claudia was looking after me last night and I thought she was back again." He laughed, trying to down play it. He didn't want Gregory to think it was something of significance. 

Gregory just nodded as he fiddled with things inside his bag, not really interested in his excuse, it didn't matter to him. Finally he looked up at Jack and said, "We need to clean the wound. Shouldn't take too long. Just got to go over the stitches and put some of these cremes on it to reduce the swelling. Wont hurt." He added reassuringly. 

Jack just nodded and let the doctor do his thing. He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled his shirt up and lowered the waistband of his shorts slightly, while the doctor prodded and inspected the skin, before quickly washing it. Jack had to look away, the sight of it made him feel sick. It was lumpy and very swollen, with black and blue bruising around it, and the red surgical stitches running through it were starting to scab over, it was not a pleasant sight. 

Gregory finished cleaning it and handed Jack some tubes of cream, instructed him when and how much of each one to put on, and how he should dress it afterwards, so the creme could sock in through the night. Jack nodded took them from him, before watching him place even more of the white dressings over it, before asking, "Have you been moving around a lot, it seems more swollen that before?" 

Jack nodded yes, but didn't bother giving an explanation at the frowning man who was now shaking his head. He couldn't think of a sufficient explanation, so he hoped the doctor wouldn't want one, and wouldn't notice him blushing, again in memory of the things he and Claudia had done together. 

"I injected some more morphine into your system this morning, to dull the pain. In a couple of weeks we will start working on getting you back on your feet, but we have to wait for it to settle before we can begin." 

Jack again nodded, before realising that he was slightly freaked out that the doctor had been injecting things into him while he was sleeping. Gregory went to leave before turning back to face him. "I almost forgot. Ramon asked me to tell you he wants to see you later. He said to find him when your ready." 

With that the man waved and informed Jack he'd be back later and left Jack alone again. Jack leant back against the big pillows, again thinking of last night, he was captivated by Claudia, but he knew he had to get her out of his mind or he would screw up. Like he almost had earlier, only he had been lucky that time, but next time he might not be. He told himself sternly that he would not compromise the mission for Claudia, no matter how he felt about her. He had always put the job before his wants and needs, and this was no different - the mission would come first. 

He pushed himself up and slowly dressed, taking great care as he put on each item of clothing, he even managed to get trousers on pain free this time. He finished buttoning up his black shirt and decided to leave the shoes and socks, it wasn't like he was going to be on his feet. He then slowly wheeled himself to the door. He knew that once he found Ramon it would begin. 


	33. Chapter 33

Jack had a hard time pushing his own weight about in the wheelchair and felt quite embarrassed that he was stuck in it. He made his way through the house and realised he wasn't in the guest house but the Salazar's own home. He thought that this was a good sign as it meant that they either cared enough for him and wanted to make sure he was okay, or they wanted him close by for their arrangements. He hoped it was both, at this moment in time, he knew he would be playing on his injury to get the things he needed. 

He passed by Thomas and later Lais who were putting something up in one of the many rooms of the house. Both greeted him nicely, almost happy to see him up and running again, well, almost. They were what made him feel embarrassed - he was supposed to be their leader yet they were now seeing him this way. It wasn't a positive point, and he hoped the men under his command wouldn't feel any less about him. After all, if they lost confidence in their leader they lost confidence in themselves, which often lead to their deaths. 

He shook his head as he reminded himself these men were not really _his_ men, he was not really their _leader_. It often surprised him how much he could loose himself here, more than any other undercover assignment. He tried to shrug that thought off but somehow knew that when this was all over it would come back to haunt him. 

Finally getting to the other side of the house he came across Sergio who was only to happy to help him find Hector and Ramon. Minutes later the two men slobbed into the room after Sergio who rushed ahead, enthusiastic to be of any help. Jack thanked the child and ruffled his hair before sending him off somewhere. Ramon and Hector then both took a place on the couch before him with serious expressions painted on their faces. 

"We may as well do this here, you'll not be able to get down to the office in the basement." Ramon said, getting up to shut the living room door and dim the lights. Jack tried not to laugh at the setting Ramon was creating, he had watched too many movies as a child. 

He retook his place and it was his brother who spoke next.   
  
"How are you feeling?" 

Jack nodded his head in response, indicating he was all right, but could obviously be a lot better. 

"Listen Jack, we need to get right down to business I'm afraid." Ramon said glaring at his brother - he knew how little time they had left to agree to the deal yet here he was wasting time dilly dallying. 

"What's going on?" Jack asked sensing the tension. 

"We've been offered a deal - we could make billions from it." Hector said, excited as a child at Christmas time. 

"But?" Jack asked. There was always a but in these situations. If there wasn't then they wouldn't have come to him in the first place. Ramon now took over the conversation. 

"This is why we came to you, were not sure if it will be worth the benefit." 

"Start at the beginning Ramon, your losing me here." Jack said. 

"A few weeks back, before you ended up like this, we were contacted by a man. He has offered us the recipe for a virus, a virus which could potentially kill millions." 

"Okay." Jack said, trying to remain calm and listen for anything which could help. 

"It would probably cost us a few hundred million, but we could make over ten times as much back."

"But your worried about switching markets?" Jack asked. Ramon's eyes lit up when Jack said this, he knew their was a reason they had taken so much care with him, he really was the best at what he did. 

"Exactly. If we bought this weapon we would not release it ourselves, we are not terrorists and we have no cause. We would duplicate it and sell it on. But the chances of it eventually getting back to us would be high, and we could be thought of as terrorists if anyone were to learn of our involvement. This could scare off customers or potential ones, and we do not want the police sniffing around us either, which I think it would eventually lead to."

"I see." Jack said, trying to think which way would be best to play it. "Who made the offer?" 

"Some man named Amador." 

"You need to get your contacts to find every last detail about this man, background, history, aliases, everything. This could work in your advantage Ramon. If you do lose customers, so what? You have made enough profit to keep your entire cartel comfortable for the rest of its life. And you have an army to defend you. I'd say this was too good an opportunity to miss." 

Jack had a hard time keeping his feelings of fear and dread from his face as he saw Hectors eyes match Ramon's as they too lit up, happy that Jack had agreed to do it. 

"Should I call the man now, his deadline is coming up fast?" 

"No no no..." Jack said forcefully as he thought. "Let him ring you, get more time from his, show him your interested, but don't sound keen - let him know who's in charge. Meanwhile gather as much information as you can. In fact, let me deal with this man. If it does get out, the government will be after Jack Bauer. They will not have any reason to investigate into to this cartel, will they? That way your safe no matter what." Jack said. 

Ramon looked at Jack with respect, the things he was willing to do to protect him and his brother. He put a hand on his arm gently. 

"Thank you Jack. That is a brilliant idea. I will leave his phone with you - from now on you handle all dealings with him, and report back to me. I'll concentrate on getting the information. Is there anything else you want?" 

Jack tried to keep the smirk from his face. "Yes, there is. I want another phone too, so I can call Gregory or you from my place if I need to." 

"Why, you can stay here until your better? Here we can have people watching you." Hector asked, almost disappointed Jack wanted to get back to his own place. 

"I don't want people watching me Hector, I'm a man of pride and this wheelchair is not exactly a moral booster. And this place it too big for me to move around. The further distance I go the more painful it gets." He added, hoping to play on the sympathy card. It worked. 

"All right Jack, don't worry, I understand. I'll have one of the men sort you out with a phone, and anything else you need." 

"That would be great."

"Okay - I'll also let Claudia and Gregory know about the change of plan." 

"Thanks." 

"No Jack, thank you. We probably wouldn't have had the balls to go through with this deal if it hadn't have been for you. You are a true friend to us Jack, a brother. We will make sure you are well compensated for your help when the profits rain in from this." 

"Thanks." Jack whispered, feeling slightly guilty. He knew these men were monsters and planning on selling a dangerous virus for their own benefit without thinking about the consequences, but he couldn't help the guilt. They trusted him, and he was betraying them, after everything they were doing for him. The slight throbbing pain in his hip tried to remind him of just _everything_ they had done for him. He shrugged the conflicting thoughts from his mind as he planned his actions and how he himself would obtain the virus and contact C.T.U. 


	34. Chapter 34

Jack closed the door behind himself and felt relief swamp him. Finally, he was home. Well, the closest to home he had been in a while. He slowly made his way through the small house and listened to Thomas' car screech away back towards the Salazar ranch, after he waited a few minutes to make sure Jack had got into the house okay. He made his way into the living room and pulled himself onto the couch wincing pain as he did so, his ribs now adding to the list of body parts that were hurting. 

He let his head fall back and stared at the wall waiting for Ramon to come, enjoying the silence for a moment or too, his headache almost non-existent. He could feel the phone that was used to contact Amador bulge in his pocket, but he ignored it - he didn't want to think about that right now. What he wanted was something to numb the pain permanently until he was out of here, of he was going to have trouble making it out of Mexico. 

His mind wandered back to Amador once more, despite his wished, and he thought about the best way to play this with him. He knew that ignoring the deadline and making Amador call him would be the easiest way to get control over the situation, but most importantly he had to make sure he would get possession of the virus. Maybe he could persuade the man that the Salazers were untrustworthy, so that he would only deal with himself, not the brothers. That would work, he thought. He could et the virus in the end and would have control over the Salazars too - he would just have to be careful to make sure the Salazars didn't realise he was in control, or he would be in trouble. 

His thoughts were interrupted by the familiar sound of another vehicle pulling up, which he assumed was giving Ramon a ride. He sat upright just before the large man clambered through the door and plonked himself down next to Jack as he handed him a thick folder full of paper. Jack made a mental note to lock the bolt over the door in the future. 

"Heres the stuff on Amador." He explained, as though Jack couldn't make the connection himself. 

"Thanks." Jack said quietly as he leafed through it, clearly not interested in the information. That had been a delaying tactic and he hadn't expected Ramon to gather even a third of the information in the time as he had. 

"So what's the plan, Jack?" 

"We wait until Amador calls. We get as much information about the product as possible - where its from, who else knows about it, price, testers, history - everything. I'll make sure we get everything we need to do this and come out on top too." He said patting him on the back, he could tell Ramon was still nervous. 

"Good." Ramon said standing up and looking around. "Is there anything else you need?" 

"No I think I got it covered here, I'll let you know of all of my dealings with Amador of course." 

"Me and Hector are going out to celebrate tonight, but I don't expect you will be attending?" He asked raising his eyebrows, he certainly wouldn't mind if Jack did come along, but given his condition it may not be in his best interests to do so. 

"No, I think I better take a rain check, thanks." Jack said, slightly sad that he couldn't go out with the men, it was always a good night when he did. 

"Okay, I'll have Gregory come by later to check on you. Oh and here.." He broke off to toss Jack a small silver flip phone from his pocket. "Your new phone. I had one of the men chip it for you, so it is completely untraceable, it can't be bugged either - hell, even the phone company would have trouble finding out who you called last never mind listening in to a conversation!" He laughed at his own poor joke and smiled widely at Jack, making sure he knew it was a good phone. 

Jack smiled at Ramon, truly grateful for the mans stupidity. 

"That's brilliant Ramon, absolutely brilliant." 


	35. Chapter 35

Jack jumped when he herd the loud banging on his front door. He looked around momentarily confused as he couldn't remember dosing off to sleep as he had. He pushed himself up and cried out as he fell back down onto the sofa clutching at his hip and taking deep breaths to control the pain. He wouldn't forget about that again, he thought, angry at himself for being stupid enough to forget it in the first place. He pulled the wheel chair over and somehow managed to maneuver himself until he was finally slumped in it - the movement had clearly aggravated his ribs too, and the pain was staggering. 

He somehow managed to hide it from his face as he opened the door and greeted Gregory, before leading him slowly through the house. Gregory had brought some more tablets for him and explained how they worked as the morphine did. They were strong painkillers and just as effective if not more. He thought that they would be better for him as they didn't control the body as much, no drowsiness or other symptoms usually brought on by morphine. He also had a few more boxes of wrappings and tubes of creme. Jack sat listening to the man babble on but his eyes lit up when he mentioned a numbing creme. That would help, he thought. He silently decided that he would try out its effectiveness once and if it worked would save it for the end of his mission, where he may need to make a possible fast getaway. 

After examining the hip wound the Doctor then went on to look at his ribs and head wound, claiming he would take the stitches out of his head tomorrow. Jack wasn't as excited about this as Gregory was, somehow it didn't sound very nice. He also announced that Jack should start using his legs more. He explained that yes it would hurt, and no he wouldn't get far, but it would help his wounds get used to the strain and would act as preparation for the physiotherapy they would begin shortly. 

Jack took his advice and the medical things and shook the mans hand before seeing him out. He felt relief after he had gone and made his way into the bedroom. He laid on the bed and closed his eyes gathering his thoughts. At least now he felt he was making some progress with his body. That was vital. If he couldn't operate or function properly when the deal actually came around then the Salazar's may try to hold him back from it, and that was not an option. Not unless he wanted to lose the virus and prolong his cover, which right now was the last thing he wanted to do. 

Yes he enjoyed the brothers company, and he certainly enjoyed Claudia's company too, but it wasn't enough. He knew part of him was going to miss this life, the relationships formed between he and his men. Once he left most of them would probably be killed in the next gang war, as they would be without his preparations and tactics. That was the Salazar's downfall, they didn't prepare enough. 

But he still couldn't deny that he wanted to get home. He missed his home, and real American food, he couldn't remember the last time he ate a proper burger, it was all Spanish rubbish here. And of course the thing he missed most of all, his daughter Kimberly. It would be her 20th birthday in a few weeks and he would be delighted if he could get back in time for it. He knew she would be ecstatic if he could make it back in time. Maybe returning in time would help their relationship, it had been a little strained before he left. She had had trouble accepting the fact that he was leaving on an undercover mission again. He didn't blame her for being upset, and now he couldn't wait to get home and make things right with her again. 

Jack closed his eyes and decided to let his worries of Kim and the Salazar's leave him alone for a while as he rested. He had almost managed to drift away again when he herd another set of knocks on his door echo through the house to his ears. Jack sighed, he really didn't have the energy to get up and make his way through the house. 

"Its open." He yelled, not opening his eyes. If they couldn't hear him then they would have to come back later. Right now he wasn't moving. 

He lay still and listened as he herd the door slowly creak open, then footsteps through the house going into different rooms looking for him. Finally he herd a voice. 

"Well Mr. Lazy, I'm sorry to disturb you." He noticed the voice and the intended sarcasm in it, immediately opening his eyes to greet the sight before him. 

"Claudia, sorry I was just tired. What's up?" He knew he only added the last part to keep it casual - they both knew very well that Ramon and Hector were out. 

She slid onto the bed next to him and the two started kissing almost instantly, they needed each other. Jack was happy for the contact, thinking of Kim had made him realise how lonely he was here, which was another reason for him to get back home. But Claudia took all of those thoughts away and replaced them with yet another moment of pure ecstasy as they made love through the night. _(Any HFJ's are welcome to write my alternate scene LOL)_

Jack was slowly brought from his light sleep when he herd Claudia getting her things. He sat up and asked her why she was leaving, disappointment in his voice. She claimed that she herd some vehicles, so the men must be back early. He couldn't deny that he didn't want her to leave but he just nodded, it wasn't like she had a choice in going back or not, and he wasn't going to be selfish and make her feel guilty for leaving. Before she left she kissed him deeply, and Jack then whispered a gentle 'thank you' into her ear before letting go of her. 

He laid back down and pulled to covers over himself, watching the door frame she had just exited through. He started to think about how she was going to fit into all of this, and if he could somehow get her and her family out of here with himself. He didn't want to leave them behind, he knew that they were trapped here. He also knew it could help him, her father and Claudia could help him get away if he couldn't, physically. But on the other hand they might slow him down too, her father was old and Sergio just a young boy. He made a mental note to tell Tony about this and see what he thought when he finally contacted C.T.U and worked out a plan with him on how he would get away with the virus. 


	36. Chapter 36

Jack lay staring at the ceiling with thoughts of Claudia swirling around his head, how he could extract her family from the Salazars, if it would be safer to do so after he complete the mission, or while he did so. He didn't know how long he had been thinking this, time was recently beginning to have no value to him, everyday was merging into one, the deadline coming closer and closer. 

It was the loud ring which pulled him from his thoughts, and momentarily confused him. He looked around for a while wondering if it was some sort of alarm until he remembered the two phones he had recently consumed. He looked on the bedside table and saw both of them laid next to each other, the black one from Amador blinking rapidly. He snatched it up and pressed the talk button, then waited. 

"Your a little late." He herd a crisp British accent say. 

"Yes I am." Jack muttered. 

"Who is this? This is not Ramon Salazar."

"This is Jack Bauer. All you need to know is that I will be conducting business for the Salazars from now on." 

"I think I'd like some sort of confirmation before we deal..." He herd the voice say, unsure. 

"Of course." 

"Are you still interested in my offer? The deadline went by two hours ago, what makes you think we still have the goods to offer?" 

Jack smiled to himself for a moment, he was dealing with an amateur. "You called me remember." 

"Your right I did." He said, a definite squirm in his voice, he could tell he was loosing control in where the conversation was going. "So what will it be?" He asked, annoyed now. 

"Send us the information about it, the brief. And of course a sample, and we'll get back to you."

"Jack I can't go around giving people samples, what if you reduplicate the material?" 

Jack laughed again. "Well Amador - then there would be a problem. Seen as you have the only recipe, unless....." He didn't need to continue, Amador knew exactly what he was suggesting. 

"I will have my contact deliver it to the Salazar compound tomorrow. Call me afterwards." 

Jack hung up the phone satisfied that the conversation had gone the way he wanted it. Amador was already losing control, and Jack had almost caught him out twice. He knew the man was not a professional in this kind of market, he must be working for someone else, as Jack was for the Salazars. He made a mental note of this, he would need to know who he was working for if C.T.U were going to brig them down afterwards. 

He sat up slowly and then pulled his clothes back on, some black trousers and a white tee. His ribs hurt when he pulled the tight fitting material over his head but he ignored it. He had more important things to get on with. Once fully dressed and washed he picked up his new silver flip phone, curtesy of Ramon, and dialled the number for the main house. Lais answered, and after a quick few words and a few minutes waiting Ramon was on the phone. 

"Ramon its Jack." 

"Hold on Jack. Me and Hector will be over at yours in 5, okay."

"Sure." 

Jack hung up the phone and slowly made his way into the main room, hating every second in the chair. He couldn't wait for Gregory to get him on his feet again - discarding his thought on escape completely, it was doing his wounded pride no good. It made him appear weak, a liability. He didn't want others thinking that about him, and he certainly didn't want to think that about himself, as he was beginning to. He sat up as he herd a vehicle pull up, now ignoring the throb present in his hip too. 

The Salazar brothers clambered through the door and took seats opposite Jack. Before he could tell them about his contact with Amador Ramon shocked him by telling him first - they already knew about his phone call with Amador. Upon seeing Jacks confused expression they explained that they bugged Amadors cell, just incase. Jack smiled, happy with the explanation, for a moment he had worried that the brothers had bugged his room. That would not be good, he thought, as he would already be dead for his doings with Claudia. Jack smiled and made idle chat with the brothers to hide his relief, then decided to double check his own phone. 

"I thought you said the phones were unable to be bugged?" 

"No Jack." Hector responded, happy to fill in the blanks. "Your phone can not be bugged, or traced, and nobody could listen in either - we don't want some government monitoring our calls do we!" He laughed, and Jack did too - he could still contact C.T.U right under their noses and they wouldn't have a clue. Sure, they would hear his calls with Amador which would make his plans a little harder, but at least he still had a solid line, which is what he needed more than anything now. 

Ramon rummaged through the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of Brandy and some glasses for the three to drink. He poured each a shot and declared a toast, to their first step in making a fortune. They clinked glasses and swallowed the fiery substance, before Jack decided to take advantage of the good mood. He explained that the brothers shouldn't have to come to him every time he needed something, and declared he wanted a van or something, to help him get from one place to another. His injures were slowing him down too much. The brothers nodded approval, but Hector couldn't understand why he didn't want the one he had accumulated a few months back, the owner of which, now dead. Ramon laughed again at how naive his little brother could be and explained how Jack would need a legitimate ride, and something small and easy the drive too, given his position. Jack nodded his head and smiled appreciatively, giving his thanks before the two left shortly afterwards. In less than an hour a small ford was parked outside and the keys in his back pocket. Jack allowed himself a few more shots of the Brandy and a laugh at his luck in this so far, it could have been a lot harder. 


	37. Chapter 37

Jack leaned against the window and peered through the layer of dust which had collected on it over time as he watched the Salazar brothers speed away to the other side of the ranch in their van. Once sure they were not coming back he made his way to the room where his little medical stash was kept. He opened the small cupboard and laughed as the contents of it fell out onto him as they had been packed into it tight. His once small collection had grown fast, he thought. He pushed some of the tubes and pads into a small back bag and rested it atop his lap as he wheeled his way over to the hallway where he stopped quickly. He was within reach of the thick stick and smiled to himself for reassurance - he knew this was not going to work in his favour, it was going to hurt. 

He rummaged through the bag remembering the numbing creme and pulled it out. After a quick attempt to read the instructions along its base before realising they were printed in some other language he unscrewed the delicate top gently. He pulled his waistband down and ripped the pad off before squeezing the clear gel like material from its container onto his fingers. He rubbed it over the wound gently and then added even more, coating not just the marked areas but the entire surrounding area as well. He then carefully put a fresh sterile pad over it and then placed the things back into the bag. 

He waited a moment to let it sink in as he reached out for the stick, grasping it in his hand, the front door now open before him. He would only have to take a step out of the door, down the three steps and over to the car. Maybe 3 foot in total, not a long distance. Despite this he was still scared, and so to procrastinate he once again went through his pockets to check he had everything. Keys, wallet, phone. All he needed. Realising there was nothing to be waiting for he took a deep breath and stood on his feet, holding his weight on the hand which was grasping the stick, his other holding onto the door, squeezing both tight enough to pull the life out of them. 

He held his breath and repeatedly squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to take a step. The pain was already unbearable but as he hobbled across to the steps it became too much and he felt himself falling, then the hard connection with the ground, where he was unable to keep his cry of pain inside. He laid still on the floor taking deep and frantic breaths as he tried to control the pain, and himself. He pushed himself from the ground slightly and could see he was not far from the car now. He reached out once more for the small black bag and threw it over to the car and watched as it landed by the wheel. 

He then crawled slowly towards the small back car using one hand to claw at the ground, the other one was protectively strewn across his broken ribs which were now wailing at him. At least the gel had partially worked, he thought, as the wound itself hadn't been aggravated too much, it was only the bone that now hurt. It seemed like forever until he reached the car, fishing the keys from his pocket and pressing the button - automatically the doors to unlocked. He opened the car door with an outstretched hand and then grabbed the frame at the side and held on tightly as he began pulling himself up; his other hand still secured around his ribs. It seemed to take forever to pull himself into the drivers seat, his first two attempts failing before gathering a final burst of energy to pull himself in and slam the door in satisfaction. 

He leaned his head back against the head rest and closed his eyes, thankful for the chance to stop moving. He felt exhausted, his body was aching all over and he realised he was sweating for his efforts. He flipped the visor down and studied himself in the mirror. He didn't look too bad. Yes he was sweating, and yes he did have a few big scabs visible through his hair on the side of his head, which the bandages had failed to cover. At least his head wound was healing, it was better than nothing. He had big bags under his eyes and a few fading bruises near his swollen area, the same place as the scabs. He didn't look too good, but given the situation, he realised he could be a whole lot worse. 

He closed his eyes once more, preparing himself for the ride. It was going to be at lest an hour and all he wanted to do was crawl back to bed and sleep. Well, he'd rather sleep right there in the car, he didn't want to think about getting back inside once his trip was over. He rubbed his hands through his hair and wound down the window, hoping that a cool breeze would keep him awake. The last thing he needed was to fall asleep at the wheel and crash, which would ruin the whole set up he had going on. He fiddled with the keys a moment longer, slotted the right one into the engine and started the car up. In a few minutes he was on the road, and despite the pain he was met with from the pressure of his feet on the pedals, he finally felt relaxed. Free of the Salazar's for a few hours. 


	38. Chapter 38

The ride into town went quicker that expected, especially given his two stops where he had firstly changed the wounds dressing because the blood was coming through it and soaking into his trousers, still aggravated from his earlier journey to the car. Secondly so he could apply more of the numbing creme, the pain from driving becoming too severe to continue. Still, despite those stops, in just over an hour he was sat in a parking space facing many of the clubs and brothels lining the street. He opened the car door and peered out onto his side, there was nothing much there, mostly baron land they hadn't yet built on. 

He slowly slid out of the car down onto the pavement where he sat after closing the door awkwardly. If anyone was watching It would have looked strange but luckily nobody was in sight this side of the road, and over the other end the only people there were staggering from one place to the next, too drunk to notice anything. The fact that it was dark also made he feel more confident. He didn't care about his appearance he just didn't want to draw attention to himself. At least the pain was minimal from the movement, and now he could make the call. 

He had taken the precaution of driving to town so he could not be disturbed, and he could get a better signal with a clear line too. He would have used a pay phone but knew it would be impossible to get to one in his condition, it was too painful to walk right now. So here on the pavement would have to do - again another precaution, just incase the interior of the car was bugged. Not that he suspected it was, he doubted the Salazar's would try anything with him after the 'incident' which made him this way. And they probably weren't smart enough to think to do so either. Still, better safe than sorry. 

He dialled the number adding the other necessary codes to get through to L.A from his spot in Mexico on the cell phone. It took a while to connect through, Jack continually glanced around himself looking for anyone who might be paying him more attention than necessary whilst he waited. A nervous habit of his. Other than a man throwing up into a trash can there was nobody in sight. He felt relief as he finally herd the dial tone, and the familiar sound of Chloés voice on the end of the line. 

"C.T.U. O'Brian." 

Jack decided it best if he didn't let her know it was him. He didn't feel like conversing with Chloé today. "Tony Almeidas office please." He said in a high pitch voice straining his throat in an attempt to disguise it. It took a lot of effort to keep himself from laughing at how he sounded, and how Chloé had instantly patched him through without noticing. 

Tony looked at the caller I.D. before picking up and noticed it was a long distance call - he instantly thought of Jack. He hoped it would be him - he had even more bad news to deliver, thanks to Divison. 

"This is Tony Almeida?" Jack herd Tony say. He couldn't deny to himself just how good it felt to hear a familiar voice reminding him who he really was, and of the world he had to go back to soon. Tony was an allie, someone like himself, the Salazars were a whole different bunch of people. He hated how it had become routine to remind himself this as he often found he was slipping further and further away. 

"Its me." Jack muttered into the phone, still taking precautions, he didn't want to reveal himself in case somebody was in the room with Tony. His contact had to be kept silent, or it could cause him troubles later. 

"How have you made contact?"   
  
"My phone. Don't worry, its a secure line." He reassured. 

"How are things going?" Tony asked.   
  
"Okay, I think. Things are moving along at least."

"Listen, this 'thing' you spoke about, are things progressing on that front?" 

"Yes. I'd say give or take a couple of months and it will go through."

Tony hesitated. How could he pressure Jack even more, he was already well aware of the stresses Jack was under daily to keep his cover intact. 

"Listen, Division is all over this.... despite what the intel is telling us they have demanded the date be brought forward .....there just messing us around they know-" 

"How long do I have Tony?" Jack interrupted, wanting to cut to the chase. 

"Three weeks from today, and they are sending in a team of S.W.A.T. men in to arrest the Salazar's and any high ranking workers. Whether you have attained the virus or not makes no difference to their plans." His voice was low, and Jack could detect anger. Tony clearly didn't agree with the way this would be going down. 

"Tony, two months was pushing this thing at best, I need more time-"

"I know Jack, all right. I did the best I could, three weeks was better than what they had planned originally. Just... do your best, okay?" 

"Sure." Jack said defeated. He knew three weeks wasn't going to cut it, he didn't know if it would be possible to speed things along even quicker than he had already managed to. If he tried to it would raise suspicion in the very least, which was exactly what he didn't want. 

"Listen, exactly 21 days from now, you are to contact me, some time in the morning. I'll confirm the S.W.A.T teams plans. They will probably bring you in with the others, so they don't blow your cover. It wont make things any easier if they know who you really are." 

Jack nodded approval silently down the phone, it was the best way to play it, if it had to happen. It was always better to walk away with your cover intact for future reference. The day of the nuclear bomb proved that alone, most of the information came from a lead through one of his previous covers. 

"Okay, 21 days, I'll be in touch." Jack said evenly. There was no point in taking his frustration out on Tony, especially when he was doing his best to help. 

"Good luck." He hung up the phone. 

Jack stared up to the sky into the stars as though looking for some answer for how to make this work out right. He didn't find an answer, but wasn't surprised. He knew it was because their was no logical way to get around this. It was impossible to do in the time frame. 


	39. Chapter 39

Jack stayed sat on the cold ground leaning against the tyre of his car a while, lost in thought. He was brain storming the different ways he could bring the virus in faster, but kept coming to dead ends with each different direction he took. He realised that his best approach was to simply move things along as quickly as he could, and get the Salazar's thinking this was the safest way to conduct this form of business. He could concoct some lie to feed them for a while. He just wondered if he could make Amador move faster too, which he doubted. 

He leaned up and opened the car door, before slowly and painfully pulling himself up. He was leaning on his uninjured side but still hurting as he did so. The action made his ribs burn slightly, but he knew it was better then unsettling his hip wound again. He couldn't understand how one wound could cause so much damage. He made a mental note that then this was over he was going to brake something of Hectors to get even. 

Once seated inside the car he fiddled with the radio until finding a station playing English music, he was sick to death of the Latin rubbish he herd on the ranch all of the time. He didn't know who was playing but they helped calm him, which he was thankful for. He decided to take the ride back to the ranch nice and slow giving him time to organise his thoughts. 

After a good ninety minutes on the rood he approached the ranch, so he slowed his sped speed down rapidly not wanting to miss the turn off which was indicated by a single wooden post stood upright in the earth. He drove through and hissed as the now bumpy ground hurt his already aching body even more. 

After seeing his place through the darkness he pulled up to it as close as possible, he wasn't going to make his trip inside any harder than it had to be. He stopped the car and was so close to the three steps leading up to his door that he wondered for a moment if he had scraped the car on it, or if the door would actually open. He tested it and it opened, not too far as it hit the second step, but that was fine. Two steps and he would be at his door, perfect. 

He looked around and realised that the Salazar's would know that he had been in the car as it had moved. He decided that if asked he would tell them he went into town to get some more painkillers. They wouldn't question that. He grabbed his small black bag and pushed it into his pocket, he wanted to have his hands free while he made his way inside. 

He pulled himself from the car and stood on shaky legs, leaning his weight towards his uninjured side. Taking a large step he moved to the door grabbing its handle to prevent himself from falling back down them. He held on with one hand and leaned over, his face clenched in pain and his face in sweat. He stood still for a few seconds too scared to move again, the pain was horrible and he didn't want to inflict any more. 

He knew he had to get inside, so taking his weight on both legs he opened the door before grabbing the door frame to steady himself as he moved. He was breathing rapid as he slowly made his way down the hall grabbing on anything and everything to stop himself from falling. He felt pure joy as he finally saw his couch not too far ahead. As he finally made his way to it he collapsed down into it. He was proud he had made it and happy the pain was finally beginning to subside some. He closed his eyes and fell asleep, exhausted due to the days painful events. 

He was dragged from his sleep hours later when he herd a loud sharp bang, followed by rapid gunfire. He jumped up before falling back down in pain, so he sat up gingerly and leaned towards the window. Peering out of it into the distance he could see the dark sky illuminated by what looked like a fire, an explosion maybe. 

He rummaged around underneath the cushions of the couch until he found his gun, he pulled it out and cocked it. He had guns stashed around everywhere in here, just incase his cover was blown. He looked out of the window once more and wondered what was going on. Was it an attack? He hoped not. If it was, he wondered where his trained teams were now, how they were doing and if they would beat this unknown enemy. He quickly thought about what he should do, realistically he could not go into combat, he could barely move. But still, he couldn't just sit their and leave his men to fight alone. Logically, he figured he should have a while before the people got to him, he was at the other end of the ranch. He was wrong, he realised as he herd gunfire right outside his door, and then the sound of people braking in through his door. 

Thoughts rapidly ran around his mind as he frantically tried to think of something. He couldn't fight them, he would have no chance. But he couldn't just sit there and let the men kill him either. He laid back against the couch his eyes closed and pretended to be asleep, the gun now hidden behind one of the cushions but still in his grip. The moment they came near him he would kill them. 

The men marched into the room and spotted the man asleep on the couch almost immediately, and were startled for a moment. They had been expecting heavy resistance, not this. The slight hesitation was all Jack needed as he jumped into a sitting position, scowling as he did so, and shot at the two men stood bemused before him. Both went down to the ground and didn't get back up. 

He was about the turn around and check the room for any others when a sharp knock to the head sent him onto the floor crying out in pain, not from the new head wound, his hip was far more progressed pain that that. He herd men talking in Spanish of some other language shouting at him, but didn't understand their words. He laid still on the floor and dropped his weapon. It was all he could do, before his head was stomped on heavily by the big man who had knocked him on the floor. Darkness engulfed him. 


	40. Chapter 40

Hector Salazar stood inside the barn next to his brother. Both had their hands on their heads and were surrounded by men who were pointing their guns at them. Ramon couldn't help but scowl as he recognised the group, it was the Warps. Some stupid low level drug dealers that thought they were gangsters too. Pathetic is what they were. And they had so far managed to overpower the two leaders of the biggest drug cartel in Mexico. Embarrassing, is what it was. When this was over he was going to make sure that whoever was responsible for letting them into the grounds was punished. 

He figured there was around 15 of them, in total, and about 50 of his own men on base. He hoped they hadn't all been killed, it would take time to train more. He didn't know how 50 men could be taken out so easily, but had to admit he'd only seen a handful of them on base recently. Who knew where the other were? He remembered something vague about a training exercise for a few days. Maybe that was where they all were. He hoped so, or Jack would be in the sht. He had trained them after all. But now he was almost certain that is where they were, some desert or something learning the techniques of this, that or the other. The fact that his men may be away and not dead didn't lighten the mood, he had still been captured. 

The brothers watched as the big doors were thrown open and Thomas and Lais, along with 6 other men were all marched in, hands on their heads also. At least Claudia and Sergio were safe, he knew they would be hidden in the shelter now, and would never be found. The room was silent and one of the men grabbed his radio and made an order in Spanish, which Ramon understood easily. He was ordering all of his remaining men back to the barn. At least they would know how mayn men they were up against, he thought. 

The wait seemed to take forever, but in reality was merely minutes. Ramon watched as five men all dressed in black army fatigues came in the room with their weapons slung over their shoulders. He wondered for a moment where Jack was and felt a glimmer of hope. If this was all they had left he had probably took most of them out and was on his way to save them - he could get them out of this mess. 

His heart sank as two more men came into the room, each holding and arm of Jacks as they dragged him into the room on his back, he was unconscious. Ramon noticed the side of his face was swollen and looked to be bruising already, and guessed that he had at least gone down fighting. He noticed the blood on his trousers and shirt remembering his injuries, no wonder he hadn't been able to save them. And from the looks of it the men hadn't been gentle with him on the journey from his house to the ranch. 

Jack was laid on the floor when he felt himself slowly come around, the pain in his side waking him up. He opened his eyes and realised he was on the floor. Looking around he could see 6 of his men lined up facing the wall on their knees, all with their hands on their heads. He remembered what had happened and looked for Ramon or Hector, seeing he two not far from himself, stood facing a group of men who were huddled together talking hurriedly. They hadn't noticed he was awake, which he realised he could use to his advantage. He locked eyes with Ramon a second before closing his eyes again. 

He herd movement in the barn, and then a loud voice speaking English. It was clear it wasn't his first language. 

"Ramon, we was expecting better resistance than this." His crew were laughing and Jack had to fight to keep himself still, he was annoyed by the comment. Almost all of the men were away on a training course, what did they expect? 

Ramon said nothing, he didn't want to aggravate them man, it would easily backfire on him. He was in no position to shoot off his mouth. 

"I was disappointed, when I got here. I herd so much about this cartel, with its army of men, but they all surrendered like pussies. And then I found this man, whom has been praised highly around Mexico and your cartel for his skills. Look at him." The group laughed as he pointed at Jack, before the man continued. "He was asleep when we got there, and he put up no fight! This cartel is a joke." He put an emphasis on his point by waking over and kicking Jack in the back. 

Jack chose this as his chance and spun round as the mans foot came away from his back. This shocked the man who didn't expect anything from Jack, and as he felt his leg pulled out from beneath him, and he fell crashing to the ground. Before any of the men had time to react he had snatched his gun and had it held strongly against his head. 

"Drop your weapons now or your leader gets a hole through his head." He instructed clearly. He knew they would obey, they were amateurs and would be lost without this so called leader. Jack looked up at the Salazar's who were stood impressed, but still nervous. They weren't out of the water yet. Still, like clockwork, each other the seven men threw their weapons away, and complied as Jack ordered them to get on the floor face down with their hands behind their heads. Another nod from Jack told his men and the Salazar's to collect the discarded weapons and take control. 

The brothers walked around ordering their own men to restrain the other men as they did, along with the leader. Jack was helped to his feet by Hector, now feeling the pain. He had felt numb before thanks to his adrenaline rush but now it was over the pain was back. He hobbled out of the room clearly in agony and Hector helped him to the next room inside the barn where he laid down on the bed. He closed his eyes and wished he was anywhere but here now. A hospital with access to the morphine machine would be good, he thought. Hector watched worried, he could see how much pain he was in, and knew he was having trouble staying conscious alone. 

Ramon came into the room and told the two that they were ready to get rid of the men. Jack understood by Ramons grin and stare at him that he was being given the chance to kill whomever he wanted to, but he wasn't in the mood. 

"Do what you want Ramon, I'm going to sit this one out." He muttered, now holding a handkerchief to stop the blood coming from the back of his head. He had only just realised it was bleeding, thanks to the man who had smacked him on the back of his head with a gun. 

"The men are watching... are you sure?" Ramon asked, he too understood how the men had to see Jack as their leader. If he didn't get revenge on these men they may think of him as weak. 

Jack looked to be lost in thought for a while, before finally coming to a decision. "Do me a favour. Go get me that big arehole who knocked me out, you'll know who I mean. Bring him in hear, and the rest of my men." 

Ramon smiled happily and went off, returning later with the whimpering man and his remaining five men who crowded into the room eager to watch. Jack was now sat up on the end of the bed and took the gun Ramon handed him. 

He cocked it and stared at the man for a minute as the tension built through the silence. Once more minute and Jack finally spoke. 

"You should not have fuked with me." 

He raised the gun and fired two shots quickly. The man fell to the floor dead with half of his face gone. He looked around at his men and smiled, before tossing the gun to one of them. 

"Have fun boys." He said, before laying back down on the bed. The men understood his intention and filled out of the room excited, two stopping to remove the dead body. Ramon laughed and clapped Jacks shoulder before leaving, but Hector stayed put to speak to Jack, he was still worried. 

"Are you okay?" He asked carefully. He knew how Jack would react, he did not like people worrying over him. 

"Sure." He muttered, he just wanted to sleep. 

"I called Gregory to come over." 

"There's no need." 

"Why?" Hector asked. 

"Because, he can't do anything to fix it." He said closing his eyes and hoping Hector would get the message and leave him alone. 

Hector looked around nervous for a moment, before speaking. "I have something that will take the pain away, give you a good nights sleep." He looked at Jack quizzically until Jack understood what he was implying. 

"I told you from the get go I'm not touching any of that crap." 

"I know Jack, but you won't be using it like the others. Just until you recover. Your pretty useless like this and in pain, and this can end that! Once your better, just stop. Me and Ramon can help you with that. I spoke to him about it and he seemed okay with the idea. Come on Jack, what would we gain from getting our top man addicted to a drug? We will do this for your own benefit, until your better, then help you stop. It will not be hard anyway." 

Jack looked at him for a moment, he was right he, could stop after he was better. He was just so tired but knew the pain wouldn't let him sleep. He looked down at the floor for a moment wondering if he was opening up one huge can of worms. "Okay." He whispered. 

Hector went away and returned later with the things needed. He set it all out and showed Jack what to do, and even pushed the needle into the vein for him. He glanced at Jack once more who seemed to be holding his breath. "Remember, after your healed, you off it. No problem." 

After getting the nod from Jack he pushed down on the plunger. 

Jack felt the liquid enter his body and relaxed immediately. It felt as though all of the blood was rushing to his head. He closed his eyes and felt as though he was flying, soaring through the air at a hundred miles an hour. He couldn't explain how he felt, it was like he was experiencing every emotion at once. He was invincible, unstoppable. He fell to sleep wrapped up in the feeling of pure joy, mixed in with numbness, No more pain, no more memories, no more nightmares. He didn't realise he was grinning, he had just found happiness, he thought, as he drifted away. 


	41. Chapter 41

Jack awoke slowly, his mind unusually clear, something which he didn't have the luxury of very often. He sat up slowly, remembering the events of the night as he realised he was asleep in the barn. As he looked to the bedside table and saw the torque on it along with the empty syringe, everything came flooding back. His night of ecstasy, his night of passion - his first night with heroin. 

He frowned at himself as he realised he really shouldn't have taken any, and even more worrying, he shouldn't have enjoyed it just as much as he did. But today was the first time in years he had woken up feeling younger than the day before. He felt as though he had actually slept for once, instead of awaking up, feeling more tired than he had been before he went to sleep. He had indeed slept. No dreams either, which was an added bonus. He didn't meet any demons last night, instead the opposite happened, he found heaven. 

But it was just a one off, he told himself firmly. To take away the pain. To help him perform his mission. He knew it had taken his pain away the night before and wondered if it would help him while he worked with the Salazar's. It probably would, but then he wouldn't be able to work whilst high, as all he could recall after taking the drug was flopping down on the bed and falling asleep - surely the Salazar's wouldn't trust him to organise this deal if he couldn't stay awake. 

No, he had to stay away from it, last night was just an experiment..... or maybe he could become accustomed to it? That way once the deal went down he would feel no pain should he need to act fast, and could control his actions at the same time. It was stupid and risky, he knew it. The entire thought was implausible... but it was still a thought. He decided that he would at least keep the idea in mind, in case his work with Gregory didn't improve his condition. 

If it was going to save his life and allow him to obtain the virus, he wasn't going to worry about morals and dismiss the idea. But if it was going to give him joy and nothing else, he couldn't justify it to himself either. He pushed the thoughts away to the small space in the back of his head where he knew he could reach upon them, should he need to turn to the drug once more. Part of him hoped he didn't have to, he wanted to recover and get the whole thing over with, he only had 20 days left... 

But another part, a stronger part of him wanted it, wanted to feel that weightless sensation once more. But not now he thought, closing the lid to the box housing the thoughts on the matter. _Now we have to concentrate on this virus, and this damn wound_. He thought about the numbing creme he had been planning on using for escape and laughed at the idea, it was nothing compared to taking a little heroin - he would be in agony if he used that, and certainly wouldn't make it out. He'd be lucky to get across the ranch without killing himself never mind Mexico! He made his second mental note of the morning, reminding himself to throw the pointless thing away when he got back to his place. It wasn't going to help him now. He had pretty much convinced himself that nothing could. Well, except for.... 

He was thankfully snapped out of his thoughts as Ramon marched into the room and helped him sit up, asking how he felt. After a quick conversation he happily explained that some of the men wouldn't be working today, they were out digging graves for the dead men who had foolishly tried to attack them. 

Jack smiled as he was informed of each individual death the men had endured. He tried to pretend that he was pleased with this, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. Ramon didn't notice though, no smile from Jack had ever reached his eyes since he met the man, and so he'd thought nothing of it. 

He asked about Amador and Jack said that he was waiting for him to get back to him, and that he would let him know as soon as it happened. _Not that I need to_, he thought as he remembered the bug they had placed in the phone so they could hear their conversations. Ramon seemed pleased with this and then offered to help Jack home, informing him that Gregory would be around later to work with him. To get him started with his recovery. Jack was very pleased with this news, and even more so with the help back across the ranch to his place. 

As he sat in the car besides Ramon he realised he enjoyed being the passenger much more than the driver, it was much less painful. Although the bumps of the landscape made his wounds throb, but it was nothing compared to the pain he had suffered the night before. As they pulled up Ramon instantly noticed the car which had moved, and was now practically blocking the entrance to the house. Jack laughed and said they must have been desperate to block the house off if they went to that much trouble. He wasn't nervous, he had know doubt Ramon would buy it, which he did. 

After helping Jack make his way painfully around the car to the steps he then practically carried Jack up and into the house, joking with him to ease the tension. 

"Tell any of the men about this and it will backfire on you as much as me Jack," Ramon had laughed, "As they will get jealous at you and claim favouritism." 

Jack had laughed at his attempt of humour, it eased the embarrassment and the pain, making him feel more comfortable. Ramon left him on the couch after telling him he would send Claudia over later to make him dinner, and reminding him of Gregory's plans too. Thankfully for Jack, he didn't ask about how last night had gone. He didn't want to touch the subject with him, he was ashamed of the fact that he knew he would probably ask for more, he felt as though he couldn't control his feelings of it. 

He had never understood the things he'd read about people becoming addicts, he had previously thought of them as weak, dependant on some drug to help them through life. But now he understood, his desire to be at peace once more was overwhelming, and he had only shot up once. He told himself the will to shoot up again was simply to get rid of the pain, but knew it was a lame excuse, he wanted it for his own selfish needs. He tried to ignore it once more as he turned on the television, but found himself hoping that Hector would stop by later so he could have a word with him about it. 


	42. Chapter 42

Almost fifteen minutes of his thoughts on last night was enough to make Jack reach for his phone. He would call Hector, he told himself, he would understand. He held the cell in his hand for another good ten minutes going over the pro's and con's back and forth in his head over and over again, as though hoping to find some untouchable reason for him to take more. Only there wasn't one, and the con's of taking Heroin clearly outweighed the pro's. Thankfully Gregory came shortly afterwards, with more pain killers and disinfectants for him to use - like they would do the trick, he thought. 

He still took them, and Gregory observed all of the wounds again. The ribs were healing now, he explained, which is why they were more susceptible to pain than they were at first. Although it would mean more pain at first Jack was pleased to finally see some progress with his body. The doctor also decided to take the stitches out of his head wound, administering some pain killers to Jack before doing so. Throughout this painful process Jack asked why he had stopped with the morphine he had been keen on giving him before, and Gregory explained how that was for the first impressions with the pain. His body was used to it now and so it wouldn't be as bad, it was unnecessary. Jack nodded, he didn't care, it hadn't worked, nothing would. 

He sat still as Gregory went on and on about nothing of interest, his mind focusing on one thing. He couldn't help it, and had long forgotten about trying to get it off his mind - that wasn't going to happen. Now the battle was keeping it out of his body, despite how much he wanted to feel free again. 

Once finished with the lectures Gregory decided they get started with his physio. He did nothing much, but was surprised at just how tiring and painful it was. He had Jack lay on his back and lift the leg to his injured side up as high as he possible could, and hold it for 10 seconds. It only came up half of the length it could have, and he was surprised by how he had struggled to keep it balanced in the air. After 5 seconds he felt the strain, after seven the pain was unbearable. Gregory knew this, it was expected, and so was surprised when he actually made it to ten, not many of his past clients had been able to do so on their first day. After that he toned it down some, five sit ups for the broken ribs to help speed up the healing process, and some more leg movements afterwards. Once the session was over Gregory helped Jack into his back room and he flopped down onto the bed exhausted. 

"That was brilliant,' Jack gasped his lungs fighting for air, he was out of breath from the activity, 'I feel better already.' He had exclaimed, a smile clearly plastered onto his face. 

Gregory beamed at him, pleased with Jacks stamina, it was clear he was going to make a faster recovery than most. He was already making progress. Before leaving he informed Jack of how his body would feel tomorrow because of the movements. It would be slow and ache, but it was a good sign. Jack nodded his eyes now closed, he was so tired. Gregory let himself out. Jack was asleep before the man had closed the door behind himself. 

Jacks sleep wasn't as good as it had been the night before, there was no barrier to prevent the nightmares today. So he slept, withering and crying out occasionally. Claudia noticed this immediately as she crept into the room, finding his asleep, not looking very peaceful. She gently woke Jack, who was pleased to be free of the nightmare, it had been horrible. He couldn't recall what it was about, but he was still scared. He could only imagine what it was these days, he wasn't short of material which his brain could reproduce as he slept. 

Claudia stroked his cheek while he calmed down, before warming the meal she had brought over so it was steaming hot. She left it on the table and helped Jack hobble over, then watched as he ate it slowly. She couldn't help but stare at him as he ate, he looked so serious even when completing the simplest tasks, as he was now. 

Jack was aware of her eyes burning into her but pretended not to notice. He didn't want to start anything tonight, he didn't have any energy. He finished the food off and thanked Claudia before leaning back in the chair dizzy, he was not used to doing as much movement as he had over the past two days. 

Claudia walked over and he stood up, the two meeting around the table, just looking at each other. The tension was unbelievable, and Claudia found that she wanted him more than ever. Jack stared back at her and felt nothing but passion, but knew he had more important matters to deal with - 20 days to find the virus was not long enough. He smiled at her and looked away, breaking the stare between their eyes. He turned to move away, and thanked her once again for the meal, before standing by the door. 

Claudia got the message that he wanted to leave and was hurt. Jack noticed this and was immediately guilty. As she passed by him he grabbed her wrist gently, and didn't let go until her eyes finally met his, she was trying hard no to let the disappointment show in her face. 

"I'm sorry, I've just got a lot of work to do tonight." 

Claudia was angry but when she looked in his eyes and saw the slight smirk on his face she couldn't stay angry. She smiled back at him before leaning forward and kissing him on the cheek softly, lingering there a few seconds, breathing deeply into his ear. She pulled away and could see the hunger in his eyes. He moved towards her and she opened the door, getting her own back now, preventing him from starting anything. She walked through it and turned around giving him a cheeky smirk back before shutting it behind herself, Jack no longer in view. 

Jack laughed to himself as he rubbed a hand through his hair, she really did make him wonder sometimes. But still, he had to focus on this job. He sat down on the couch after struggling to find the cells, remembering he had left it on the arm rest. He grabbed the one Amador was calling on and tried to call him back, ready to move this thing along, he was taking too long getting the sample too them. As he rang the number back he got no dial tone, and instead an automatic voice cane on the line. "I'm sorry - this phone accepts incoming calls only." Jack hung the phone up and slammed it down on the couch angry - he had no way of contacting him. He would have to wait. 


	43. Chapter 43

Jack opened his eyes slowly and it eventually occurred to him that the loud ringing noise was coming from a phone. Amador's phone. He sat up and blindly groped around the bedside table before pulling it to his ear and saying a tired hello. It was Amador, and Jack couldn't contain his excitement. The man asked if they were willing to buy or not, and Jack had to think back to his last conversation with Ramon, he couldn't remember what they had decided on. They had received the testers, but he had herd nothing more of it. He told Amador to call back in an hour, where he would have their final answer. Although annoyed, Amador agreed. He would up the price a few million to compensate for how much they had messed him around recently. 

After hanging up that phone Jack immediately picked up the other one and rang the main house. It was answered after a few rings, and Sergio was only too happy to go get Ramon. After a quick conversation with him the situation had been explained, and Ramon and Hector were on there way to see him, both excited as school boys. This would be their big pay off, and things were going to come off soon.

Jack pulled himself up and made his way into the living room. He patted his hair down sleepily, trying to look like he wasn't as exhausted as he felt. Even though he had had over 12 hours of sleep too. He pushed those thoughts out of his head as he thought about how fast he could get things moving now. He could be home in a week, back in LA, free of this place.

The bothers arrived shortly afterwards with sheets containing statistics from the tester for Jack to check over. Jack could see the excitement in their eyes, and for a moment felt pure hatred and disgust. They were only thinking about themselves and the money they would make from this, had they even thought about the billions of innocents who would die? Of course not, Jack thought. They're too greedy to even consider that.

Jack nodded his head to himself as he read, while he cringed inside. The kill rate had been modified, making it work faster. He could not mess up now, if he failed, the consequences would be catastrophic. He knew he had a good chance of stopping this from getting out of hand, but experience also told him that there was a good chance it would all go wrong and the virus would somehow be released. He knew he couldn't let it get that far. Once the Salazar's had possession of it he had to take it and go. He couldn't let it get to the stage of other potential buyers, anything could happen at that point. Although that would allow C.T.U to take down more potential terrorists he knew the risks were too much. He would have to act fast to keep this under control.

Jack gave his approval of the statistics, and explained to the two men about the modification, the advanced kill rate. They weren't to interested in this, until Jack explained that they could up the going price by at least 15 of its current value. This they liked to hear. They decided to wait for Amador to call Jack back in case he suggested something which he would need to confirm with them. That and the fact that the two were bursting with excitement, and wanted to be there when the ball started rolling.

Fifteen minutes later and the phone rang. It was resting on the table, and Ramon reached over and snapped it up, passing it to Jack. Jack had to try hard not to laugh at the two of them, both on the edge of their seats, too consumed by their greed to understand the real risks of what they were doing. If they had examined this thing from both sides they would have realised that the risks ultimately outweighed the benefits. Every US officer would be after them. But that was the least of their problems, because Jack would be bringing them in soon himself. He could picture them in the interrogation rooms back in LA. They would be devastated.

Jack answered the phone coolly, showing Amador that he was the one with the control in this conversation. Had Ramon or Hector handled this personally, they would already be jumping through his hoops. After a brief conversation Jack flipped the phone shut and grinned to the two men. It was hard to pretend that he held the same amount of excitement as them, but he had to pull it off or they would be very concerned. He was going to get a big pay off out of this too....

He explained that they would met Amador in fourteen miles south of the compound, in three hours time. Amador would have the place secured, but they were permitted to send a small team of backup with them, to get rid of any worries about being set up. There Ramon would transfer the money into a bank account for Amador, through his equipment. The going price was 200 million, so they would have to sort out their funds now so they could make an easy transfer of one final sum through to Amador. Once that was verified, they would be given a case containing all of the notes and important information on the virus. After a cautionary 24 hours period, they would meet again in the same place, where they would be given the virus.

Hector was concerned that Amador wouldn't give them the virus and instead run, but Jack and Ramon convinced him otherwise. It was the unspoken code, Ramon said, for crooks like them to be even with each other. Otherwise they would get nowhere. Jack was slightly nervous about this inside. If Amador did screw them, he would be in big trouble. Not just with the Salazar's, but both sides of the law.

Ramon set off to work right away, calling different people gathering all of their funds into one large account, while Hector poured the three of them a drink. Once Ramon was satisfied the funds were ready, Jack said he would prepare a small team of 4 men to go with them, and arrange another of 8 to take up positions further back, in case they did meet resistance. The look on Ramon's face told him something was wrong, and when he asked, Hector busied himself in the kitchen.

Ramon told Jack that he couldn't take a team, he was still too unwell. This made Jack angry and he questioned Ramon, but knew that he was right. He was annoyed at himself, what if something happened now and he missed it, what if everything went down now and he lost the virus? He agreed, somewhat reluctantly, on the grounds that he could come along after the 24 hour period. 'I'll even wait in the car.' He assured Ramon, who eventually caved in. He knew how much this meant to Jack, and maybe he would be stronger tomorrow if he had another session with Gregory today.

The men left after two hours, to get to the location in good time. Jack watched out of the window as the car drove off, then the van which followed. He couldn't help but curse his injury, he should be there making sure it all runs smoothly. What if Amador wouldn't deal with them because he wasn't there? He hoped that if he was suspicious he would have the sense to ring and check everything was okay with him. He didn't want anything to slow this down, even though it was the speed of it that was keeping him on the sideline.

Jack stayed put next to the window, looking out into the now dust filled air, wanting o be in the car with them. He needed to see what was happening first hand so he could get an read on Amador. If he thought something suspicions was going on he could have more men ready tomorrow to make sure it goes the way they want it to. The brothers were too consumed by there excitement, they wouldn't even consider watching Amador.

Distracting him from those thoughts was the new car which pulled up right outside. He looked out and had to smile as he saw Gregory get out, caring a large black bag. Well, he thought, the brothers obviously contain some intelligence between them. They sent Gregory now so I will be preoccupied while they are gone.

Despite the gravity of what was going on right now he allowed himself to let out a slight laugh as Gregory came in. He could do nothing about the virus until tomorrow, so the best thing he could do right now was try and get better. Gregory helped him through to the main room, where they started with the same moves as last time, only more repetitions this time. Jack found it hard but pressed on, he had to be able to move about tomorrow or things would go wrong.

After they finished the leg curls Jack questioned which other exercises would be the best to do, in his free time. Gregory explained that he was to do only basic ones, like the ones they had practised. He should not do any strenuous ones or he would risk causing further internal damage, so press-ups and other similar ones were out of the picture. He also stressed that he should do the minimum amount. If he did too many, he could cause himself more work in the long run. He was however, pleased with his ability to walk, and left him a single crutch to help him along. It was clear he had been doing it a lot despite his warnings, so the least Gregory could do was help him. It was clear Jack was going to do as much as he could to get back on his feet.

The rest of the afternoon passed by in a haze, as Jack was too tired to do anything after his session. Now had nothing to do his mind slipped once again to the drug, but he decided to stay away from it until tomorrow had passed. He couldn't allow the chance for someone from C.T.U to see what he was on, and he couldn't risk the Salazar's not letting him go if they suspected he was high.

He decided to take a short nap to get his strength up for the brothers return. He had to get every detail possible from them to help develop his plans. As he drifted off to sleep his thoughts were of tomorrow, and how he would be able to obtain the virus and get away from the Salazar's at the same time, without calling his cover either. He realised that he needed to ring Tony first thing in the morning so they could have teams ready to respond to the situation. He would also need help with the extraction of the virus, he couldn't do it alone.


	44. Chapter 44

Jack woke up a few hours later and made to ring Tony straight away. This time he didn't bother with the precautions as he had last time, he didn't want to look suspicious. He informed Tony of the meet going down tomorrow for the actual virus. Tony would have the Mexican authorities on standby near the area, Jack would trigger them by ringing a certain number which Tony gave him, and letting it ring four times. Tony also explained that Jack would be treated as a hostile. Jack knew why he had told him this, he would have to stay quiet until C.T.U got there - who knew how many people in the Mexican services were owned by the Salazars? Before he hung up Tony wished him good luck. He smiled to himself before hanging up the phone, he had no idea just how much luck he was going to need. 

He got changed and made something to eat, and noticed how much easier it was to move about with the crutch, and less painful too. Ramon and Hector plodded in later, both wearing satisfied grins. They sat down together in a huddle as Jack once again inspected the new materials. There were formulas, the modifications, everything. He felt a slight twitch in his stomach, if he could get these out too, the health services could learn more about the substance, and begin experimenting with possible antidotes too, in case they came across it again in the future. 

Jack gave his approval and Ramon asked him if he could keep it with him, in case someone got curious or a little too excited and decided to take a look at it himself. Of course Jack agreed, and so went and hid it under the loose floor boards in his bedroom, with the help of Hector. He couldn't keep the smile from his face now, but the brothers understood why he was smiling the way he was, this time tomorrow they could earn more money than they had ever imagined. Given the cartel's current value, it was going to be a lot. 

Once calmed that the documents would be secure, Jack asked them what their initial thoughts on Amador was. Hector said he seemed like any average man, whereas Ramon thought he was a little snobby. Jack stifled his laugh, they obviously hadn't thought to get a reading on Amador. Either that or they didn't understand the question. Each hypothesis was equally funny, they both reflected the brothers stupidity. After this Jack double checked he would be going along tomorrow, and Ramon told him to meet them in the barn, tomorrow at around lunch time. He was going to hold a meeting with the men they were taking as backup covertly, to make sure everyone knew what they were doing. Jack said he would be there, and Ramon told him to get some rest before tomorrow. 

After they left Jack took a long bath as he tried to clear his mind and focus on tomorrow's objective. He was unsure of what to do with the documents under his bed. Should he take them with him? If he did, and the Salazars wanted another look at them, he would be in trouble. But if he went along without them, then he was almost certain he wouldn't have the time to get them before calling in the cavalry. He guessed his best bet would be to take them with him, he would have to hide them with the virus. Then when he was arrested they would be safe from any of the people playing both sides of the fence. That was the safest option. 

The loud knocking brought Jack back to consciousness, the physio once again exhausting him beyond belief. He sat up in bed and yelled out that it was open, to whoever may be waiting for him. He was shocked but pleased to see it was Claudia, she had made him breakfast. After he ate she explained to him that Ramon had said he was coming along with them on a business trip in a few hours time. She was concerned with how strange he had been acting, but Jacks words didn't comfort her either. He explained that they were going to finalise a deal. 

Claudia saw through his lie, and saw the way he was squirming beneath her eyes. It had suddenly hit him that after today he wouldn't see Claudia again. But he wanted to, he wanted her to come with him, but the idea was preposterous. Once she knew who he really was she would be over him. It would be easier just to leave, save her the heart brake. He smiled as he saw her studying him whilst he tried to portray that everything was fine. He was missing her already, and they were still together. He wondered if their would be anyway to come back for her after this was over. Suddenly it didn't seem like such a bad idea after all. He could bring her and her family back to the US, she would surely forgive him because he would be taking her away from the life she was stuck in here. He smiled at her as he felt a sense of hope, that one day in the near future they could maybe have a proper relationship. 

He told her that he had to start getting ready for the deal, he had a lot of work to do. Before she left he pulled her back into a deep embrace, his arms bounding them together. He whispered into her ear a promise she would never forget. 'No matter what happens here, I wil come back for you.' She was confused by what he was saying, but didn't ask for an explanation. She savoured the words, she knew he meant them. Soon they would be together, she thought happily, as she left. 


	45. Chapter 45

Jack showered and dressed, before placing the folded documents in a sealed bag , then pushing them into his sock where he assumed they would be both safe and undetected. After that was done he grabbed the phone from Ramon, leaving Adam's on the table, he would have no use for it now. He grabbed his two tone gun and attached his holster. Then, with the help of the crutch, he made his way to the car. He hadn't bothered to take any of the numbing cremes of pain killers as he had originally planned, he knew they would make no difference. There was no point in wasting time with those, especially when he felt lots better since yesterdays session, the difference was unbelievable. 

He drove round to the barn, where Ramon and Hector were unfolding a large detailed map over the main table. There were eight men spread around the table, Jack smiled, the exact ones he would have chosen. Maybe they weren't so stupid, he thought. Although this new brain power had only developed because they wanted to be able to get away in one piece if they were ambushed, which he doubted would actually happen.

Jack looked over the map, a large area had been circled in red, which is where the meet was going down. He identified each of the men's positions, going from the best vantage points available. He also made a mental note of where the best place to hide the virus would be. There was what looked to be an old well. He decided he would hide it near there, around the outer layer somewhere. He also took note of the border line, where the troops would be stationed. He estimated that it would take them around 10 minutes to get to there position, if they were fast.

He ran though the memorised number to trigger them once more, nothing wrong with precautions. He also had it scrawled across his upper arm, hidden by the long sleeved sweatshirt, just in case. He hoped he wouldn't need to look there for it as it would waste valuable time. But he also knew the chances of him forgetting it amiss the chaos was as likely a chance as remembering it was.

The men all knew what they were to do, and so left to go to the armoury. They returned shortly afterwards and began to gear up there in the barn. One of the man handed Jack a vest, seeing he already his weapon. Jack also noticed Hector and Ramon picking out certain weapons. He would have to keep an eye on them while the thing went down. He wondered how he would get away to make the call if it wasn't an ambush, and decided that he would alert the men to charge in through the radios, claiming he was suspicious. It was as good excuse as any, he thought. Once they came in he could slip away, hide the virus and call the authorities. After that there would be no time for anyone to realise that nothing was wrong. He'd be home free by then.

Satisfied everything was prepared, Lais pulled up in a large S.U.V. Jack and the brothers climbed into the front, while the men clambered into the back. They would drop them off individually along the way. Jack was sat against the passenger window already looking out, alert, the crutch left behind in the barn. As they dropped off the eighth man, Jack noticed how the sun had almost set. Would that work as an advantage, or against them, he wondered? The car went by a check post and he herd Ramon mutter, 'Were here,' under his breath.

After another 100 yards he slowed the car to a stop. Jack could see the small gathering of men in the open land from inside the car, and looked for anything to cover him. There were a few large rocks, and further to the left, on the direction of the well was some heavy brush. He could disappear through their. The three of them got out and approached the group, Ramon leading, Jack at the back.

Ramon and Amador greeted each other, and Amador said that the funds had been verified, everything was fine. Ramon asked for the virus and Jack watched as Amador, seemingly happy, handed him a sliver case. Something didn't feel right, Jack thought, this was happening too easy. He kept his discomfort quiet, focusing on the case now held loosely in Ramon's hand.

Then the first shot rang out.

Jack instinctively ducked while drawing his gun from his holster, looking for who fired. It had to be more of Amador's men, hidden. That didn't matter too much, for he could hear their own men firing back. It was almost pitch black now, hard to see who was with the Salazar's, and who was with Amador as constant gunfire sounded, along with screams and yells and he could even see two men fighting hand to hand.

He crawled along the floor looking for Ramon, and how could get away now. He saw him to his right, leant over Hector who had taken a shot to the stomach, loosing blood rapidly. The case was on the floor by his side, both were oblivious to the activity around them. Jack swiped the case and moved to a crouch, and started firing ahead at a man aiming in his direction before starting to run.

He made it to the brush unscathed, sure he had taken a few men out along the way. He dived head first through, ignoring the pain in his chest and hip as he did so. He could see there were more men in the area so he crawled through the dirt, seeing the well up ahead, past the fighters who were heading towards the centre of it all behind him. Once they had passed Jack got up to his feet and sprinted to the well.

He opened the case and pulled the glass vial out. He tolled the now empty suitcase down into the well, and pulled the air tight bad from his sock. He hurriedly opened it before tucking the vial inside. He pulled up clumps of the overgrowth and hastily shoved the bag as deep down as he could into the dirt, before covering it over. That done, he rapidly pulled out the phone and dialled the number straight off, letting it ring four times, before ditching that inside the well too.

He pulled himself up and held the gun in both hands now, and headed back towards the chaos. As he came out through the brush he started firing at whom he assumed were enemy combatants, before going to find Ramon. He was back by his side, it hadn't even been five minutes. He crawled around the body of Hector that Ramon was slumped again and realised he was dead. Ramon wasn't coherent, so Jack dragged him behind one of the huge rocks in the area, giving him cover. He would need Ramon alive, after all.

He could hear the should of explosions from behind and assumed it was the authorities. He slapped Ramon hard on the face and told him he could hear sirens, they had to go. This perked Ramon up, and they managed to pull each other up, Jack still in pain from his earlier journey. Jack led the way pistol first seeing that most of the men were dead, the survivors of both teams making a run for it. Ramon set off running too, and Jack followed, struggling to keep up.

Jack could see the many different helicopter searchlights, and different shadowy men covering the land fast. In the distance they could see one man being restrained on the ground so they changed direction, anything to evade capture. Jack shouted to Ramon that they should separate, it would be harder to catch them both, and he agreed. Ramon changed direction again whilst Jack continued on, now meeting more brush, which was higher and denser than the last section of it.

He pushed his way through now all but too aware of the pain whilst branches whipped out at his arms and face. He made it through and saw even more of who he assumed were police, yelling for him to stop. He didn't, he continued on. This had to look like he was trying to escape, they had to believe he was one of the criminals here. He ran out as fast as he could, aware of the men catching up behind him, and the spotlight which now illuminated him as he moved on.

Finally one of the younger men caught up with him and managed to drag him to the ground. In seconds his armed were restrained behind his back, his feet secured, and five weapons trained on him. As he lay on the ground he could hear people talking fast, in some language which he didn't understand.

He wondered for a moment if they had caught Ramon yet, it would only be a matter of time before they did. He closed his eyes as the pain in his ribs hurt more as the hip started to feel better. He knew he shouldn't relax yet as he still had to wait for C.T.U to come pick him up, which would be tomorrow at the earliest. He was just relieved to be alive. The ambush had been more than they had expected, and he was lucky to be here. At least the virus was safe, he thought. His last thoughts were of Hectors staring lifeless eyes staring up at him before he drifted away, exhaustion from the chase caught up with him as he slipped into darkness.


	46. Chapter 46

Jack opened his eyes, but only saw darkness. He quickly deduced that their was a bag over his head - he would feel the strain on his head had it been a blindfold. He wriggled his arms and found they were still restrained behind his back, and his feet were going nowhere either. He stopped moving and decided it best if whoever was watching him thought he was still out of it. The longer they left him alone the better, Tony would be on his way. He didn't know how long it would take, however, he had no clue of the time, nor how long he had been out for. 

His ribs were no longer hurting, as he was laid on his back, but his hip was now throbbing once more, so he assumed they had been moving him around. He could feel hard cement underneath him with his fingers and guessed he was in a cell. He strained his ears but herd nothing, so he assumed he was alone. This was okay, they would probably leave him alone until Tony got there. The new footsteps he herd approaching told him his assumption was wrong, so maybe they would question him before Tony got there. He didn't care much, it would be over before it started. 

He herd a door open and people entering. He herd a deep voice order him up in... was it Spanish? He wasn't sure, his own ability to speak the language had got very rusty over the years. He decided it best to play it off as though he didn't understand, that would delay things a little. He herd the voice demand he get up again, and after a moment passed he was pulled to his feet by at least two pairs of hands. He did nothing to help them and allowed himself to be dragged along to wherever they were taking him. He guessed that being dragged would be less painful than walking anywhere himself. He stopped moving and was placed on a softer material, before the hood was pulled from his head. 

Jack blinked a few seconds before his eyes adjusted to the light. He looked around the room and saw a man in uniform guarding the door, another man looking through what looked like a briefcase, and a third stood by the second, watching Jack with interest. Jack wasn't sure what was going on, until the third man spoke, in strained English with a strong accent. He said that he was going to be examined, 'because there is a lot of blood.' Jack looked down and noticed some blood had soaked through his clothes from the hip, not what he would class as a lot but enough to notice. He nodded and sat still as the second man, whom he assumed was a doctor approached him. 

Jack closed his eyes as he felt the doctor pressing on the wound here and there, obviously trying to stop the bleeding and fix it up some. Jack knew what they were doing, it was an old tactic. Start off by being nice and pretending they care so he would realise they only wanted to help, so he might as well tell them everything that happened. He knew Tony would be here before they could get past that stage, and he doubted they would use force anyway. He was only a suspect, it wasn't as though they wanted information - they were just trying to figure out what had happened. 

The doctor finished and Jack felt his feet cut free as the man who had been guarding the door helped him up, before they led him through a dim hallway to another room, and sat him down at a table. The translator told him someone would be by to question him soon, before leaving him alone with the guard who stood before the door staring straight ahead as though in a trance. They appeared to be very professional, which surprised Jack, but also made him feel even more confident that this wouldn't escalate before C.T.U got here. 

Minutes later the translator reappeared with a new man, also in uniform. He asked Jack his name, which he answered. No harm in making it easier for Tony to find him. Every other question he stayed silent for. The man was clearly getting frustrated with the way it was going, and soon began repeating the same questions over and over, to which Jack stayed silent, his eyes making him appear bored with the whole situation. In truth he was. 

After over an hour of heavy questioning and no results the man told Jack that he would have some time to think abut his answers before they came for him again. He was then led through a different hallway to a small and empty cell, where he was left alone, hands no longer restrained. He had to laugh as they locked the door, they were doing this strictly by the book. They would leave him alone, probably until tomorrow at the earliest. Then start asking the same questions over again, expecting him to answer this time. He would, of course, be gone before that time came. 

Jack soon fell asleep, and when he woke the cell was lighter, it was clearly a new day. He began to panic slightly, why was he still here, where was Tony? The cell opened and he was escorted back to the same table in the same room where the same man asked him the same questions over and over. Jack gave the same responses, the silent treatment. He appeared calm and unfazed but inside he was getting worked up. Had they taken him somewhere else? Did Tony even know where he was? 

Hours later the man took Jack back into the cell, clearly aggravated with the lack of results. Jack realised that he didn't have too long before they would move on to the next stages, which might not be as comfortable. He sat down on the floor and allowed the different possibilities to roam through his mind, for why Tony wasn't here. As he did so he began to hear a commotion in the far distance. Shouting could be herd, orders, they sounded like. He stood up as though it would help him hear more, it didn't, but he was certain something was going off. He herd the sound of a flash bang, and a few screams. 

His cell door was flung open and two men dressed in black stormed in to room and threw him to the floor, cuffing his hands once more and blindfolding him. He felt them drag him, and herd them bark orders to others through radios. They spoke American. He was dragged outside, he noticed the different textures of the ground, and herd the sound of a helicopters rotator blades. 

He smiled to himself, this was Tony. It was some sort of sting operation to get him, and the other people they arrested form the cartel to LA, including Ramon. He could imagine the Mexicans deciding they weren't going to let the Americans have the prisoners, even though it was the American intel which allowed them to capture them. It wouldn't be the first time they had tried to do something like this, but Tony had found his way around it. 

He was pulled up into the helicopter, and could hear others being pulled on too, including the frustrated voice of Ramon demanding to know what was going on. Jack realised that he would be treated as a prisoner until they got the others, mainly Ramon into custody. If they knew who Jack was, they would never talk. Jack closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax, finally, he was on his way home. 

The trip back to LA was long but eventually he felt them touch down. He was guided off the helicopter and directed by someone who led him into a building. He couldn't be sure but the ramp made him wonder if he was going into C.T.U through the back way. He was led down a hallway and placed in a chair inside another room. 

Minutes later he herd the door open and the cuffs were taken off his wrists. Jack pulled the blindfold off himself and looked across the room at Tony who was grinning at him. Jack smiled and stood up taking his jacket off. 

"That was some pick up Tony, impressive." He laughed. 

"Mexican government can be a bitch." Tony grinned back, guiding Jack out of the room into C.T.U, they headed to his office. As they walked Tony explained that someone had picked Kim up and she was on her way to see him, but they had more urgent matters to deal with first. 

Inside Tony's office was detailed map of the area where they were taken by the Mexicans, similar to the one Ramon had, Jack thought. Jack spotted the well and explained where the virus and documents were hidden. Tony rang his man who had stayed behind when they attacked the prison, who then stayed on the line with them as he made his way to the well, he was already in the area. He found the well and after a few directions from Jack, confirmed that he had the virus. He said he would be back in LA under five hours. 

Jack told Tony that he knew he needed to be debriefed and give them his information on the men they now had in custody, but he would do it tomorrow, he just needed to go home and sleep. Tony okayed it, explaining that he would have to have a medical tomorrow morning, then the usual procedure would kick in. He said he would call Jack when they have verification of the virus. Kim burst through the door and the two had a quick reunion, before Tony interrupted, saying he was clear to go and the virus was on its way. Everything was set. 

Kim left to go get them a car to take them home, leaving Jack and Tony in the office. 

"Congratulations Jack." Tony said, before shaking his hand. Jack smiled embarrassed. He wanted nothing more than to go home and spend the night with his daughter. And, for one night, forget about Salazar. He knew tomorrow would be hell, debriefs and check ups over and over, then he had to get started on Ramon and the others. But for one night, he decided he would forget about it all. It was over. 

"Welcome home Jack." 

---------- 

THE END, FINALLY!!!!!!!! 

WAHOO!! 

Hope you liked it, hoped you didn't get too bored along the way, hope the ending didn't suck too much!!!  
Cheers for reading xxx 


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